Convento is a poetic documentary, introducing an eccentric family of Dutch artists who live in a converted 400-year-old Portuguese Monastery, Sao Francisco. Christiaan Zwanikken is a kinetic artist who reanimates skeletal parts and deceased wildlife with servomotors and robotics. His parents, ex-ballet dancer Geraldine and her late husband Kees, a successful photographer, came to Portugal in the 70s and Christian and his brother were raised in this unique environment. Jarred Alterman’s masterful and dreamlike film pushes the boundaries of the documentary form. Screening with eerie, award winning short Battenberg.
- Countries
- USA
- Director:
- Jarred Alterman
- Running Time:
- 62 + 12 mins
- Year:
- 2010
- Showing:
- This is a past event.
There are no planned future listings for this event, and as such tickets are currently unavailable; however, any future screenings will be posted here, so watch this space!
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The Zwannikens are certainly fascinating people (I was particularly interested in the son without the brilliantly creative career), and their home is beautiful. The film is lovingly shot and you get some sense of the shape of their lives. It felt a bit like an article from an art magazine crossed with Hello magazine but with everyone being sensible, intelligent and compassionate. I’m not sure I liked it.
Battenberg was great – very Svankmajer but none the worse for that, a right evil squirrel and loads of groovy old junk, animated into a hideous jerking simulacra of life normally only seen at Tory party conferences. Without Svankmajer’s vision this kind of thing can eventually become tiresome but as a short it’s spot on. Good darkly entertaining stuff.