kindergarten
kindergarten
Writer & Director: Yann les Jours
Produced by Kotti Films
3 Minutes / Experimental Documentary / France 2023
Black and White / ProRes or H.264 / 2k 1:78 / Stereo or 5.1 / language : English / Filmed in Czech Republic
credits
Production : Annick Gibert - Kotti Films
cinematography / direction / editing / sound: Yann les Jours
with Valeryia Kim and Yann les Jours
Special thanks: Ji.hlava IDFF Academy
Logline
Valeriya tells Yann a story of her childhood in Balkhash, while Yann is giving her directions, filming her. What we hear is her story, what we see is her silence.
filmed and developed during Ji.halava Academy 2022
Festivals selections : 20minmax ISFF Ingolstadt (DE) 2023, Fisura Festival Internacional de Cine y Video Experimental Mexico (MX) 2024, Ribalta Experimental Film Festival Vignola (IT) 2024, CourtsCarouge Carouge (CH) 2024, Mientras tanto CINE Montevideo (UR) 2024, Côté court Pantin (FR) 2024, One Shot ISFF Yerevan (AM) 2024
review : BELLE LETTRES AL REFF – UNA EDUCAZIONE AL RICORDO by Stefano Bolzoni
in MEMENTO – Rivista di critica cinematografica _ 16.03.2024
https://mementocinema.it/2024/03/16/belle-lettres-al-reff-una-educazione-al-ricordo/
Director Statement
"kindergarten" is one of my three short films, with "Mars" (2023) and Sonnet (2024), that explores the poetical rhythmicity as mean for questioning the conventions of cinematic storytelling. As "Mars" follows the structure of the haiku, and Sonnet follows the structure of the sonnet, "kindergarten" follows the more complex structure of the villanelle.
It was filmed in the corridor of the youth hostel of Jihlava with a perfectly unprepared protagonist and me, being that director/DOP/sound engineer who wished he had an extra tripod rather than holding the light in his tired left hand.
Then, from that impossible equation something happened, everybody, every part of our bodies and brains had this "letting go" state that allowed poetry to appear. My tired left hand became a sun, the unprepared protagonist shared one of her most precious memories, the youth hostel corridor turned visible a mental landscape that no other set could ever represent...
