Distance and Intimacy: Documentary Film Retrospective of Jacqueline Zünd

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Co-Presented by the Hong Kong Arts Centre, Consulate General of Switzerland in Hong Kong and Swiss Films, moving image programme Distance and Intimacy: Documentary Film Retrospective of Jacqueline Zünd takes place at the Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre from 17 to 20 November 2022.

Swiss documentarian Jacqueline Zünd frequents the distant but intimate lives of people from around the world – the insomniacs, the aged and the children – embracing their delights and disappointments, regrets and hopes, and other contrasting sensations. As these people wander along their paths of ritual, befittingly or unfittingly, they understand life anew with wisdom, dignity and vitality.

“To head for the place you’re most afraid of is the most efficient way to get rid of your fear.”
– Jacqueline Zünd

Where We Belong asks what it means to live in constant transition between homes and approaches five children’s realities. It focuses on how fragile, but also how brave, smart and funny they are in perceiving their volatile situations. The film is a work of love, labour and openness for the children who are often neglected, and whose feelings are difficult to define. Goodnight Nobody follows four insomniacs in Burkina Faso, Ukraine, America and China who are forced to dream awake throughout long nights. While sleeplessness is frustrating and debilitating, these insomniacs have also turned their sleeplessness into intimate enlightenments and delightful discoveries. Almost There tells the story of three men who decide to embark on new journeys to discover the unknown sides of themselves in the autumn of their lives. In their journeys to search for the meaning of life, they make choices that are not easy, but there are serendipities.

Megacities explores the contradictions the inhabitants of Mumbai, New York, Mexico City and Moscow have to live with day in, day out, when they all share the dream of a better life. The stories of these dignified survivalists challenge easy moralisation and sparked frantic controversies upon its release. Sworn Virgin portrays the story of a woman who takes an oath of eternal virginity in a traditional Albanian village and lives as a man, but from then on, he is restricted from marriage, sex and parenthood. Avoiding traps and clichés, subdued and intricate, the film has received praises from critics and audiences alike.

Audience members are also welcomed to join the virtual After-screening Masterclass in which Zünd will talk about the process of how she transforms intimate human subjects into film.