DOKUARTS
Zeughauskino Berlin
Oct 4-21, 2018
Jaar, Lament of the Images
Is it possible to be a pessimistic artist and, at the same time, driven by undaunted optimism in one’s own artistic practice? The New York-based Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar with his internationally present installations that combine elements of photography, architecture and theatre is the living proof.
Jaar reacts to the dramatic injustices and catastrophes of our times, whether it is the military dictatorship in his home country Chile, the fate of illegal immigrants at the US-border, the apocalyptic conditions in Brazilian goldmines, or the genocide in Rwanda. Paula Rodríguez Sickert’s film honours the profound humanistic attitude behind Jaar’s works and public interventions.
Her general decision to approach Jaar’s thinking and oeuvre solely through his own voice, is highly appropriate considering his works which never cease to critically reflect their own artistic conduct and effects.
The insights into Jaar’s emotions and thoughts in the process of his work are convincingly supported by the soundtrack of film composer and DJ Nicolas Jaar. Highly present and transparent, yet never intrusive, Jaar’s son engages in an eye-to-eye dialog with the work of a father who never tires to revolt against the “criminal indifference” of the world, also and not least the art world.
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Paula Rodríguez Sickert
Paula Rodríguez Sickert (*1963 in Santiago, Chile) lived in Berlin between 1989 and 2014. She obtained a degree in architecture from the Berlin School of Arts (Hochschule der Künste) in 1992 and the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin (DffB) in 2002. She embarked on her professional career as a documentary film director and Television journalist. A number of her documentaries, such as, “First Steps“ (1998), “Pinochet´s Children“(2003) have been awarded by international film festivals. The Documentary “Isabel Allende” (2008) has been distributed on television channels around the world. In 2010, she founded her the film production company VISIONA Film productions in Berlin. After moving back to Chile she filmed the 8-chapter series, “Muertes Anunciadas” (2016), a journalistic report from Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia regarding the subject of femicide, in which she was director, scriptwriter and producer.