Filmstill Spectres, 2011 Courtesy Jan Mot, Brüssel
Film still Spectres, 2011 Courtesy Jan Mot, Brussels
Film still Spectres, 2011 Courtesy Jan Mot, BrusselsScreening and talk with Sven Augustijnen
Thursday, 8 September 2011, 07.30pm
Location: Kinok at Lokremise, Grünbergstrasse 7, St. Gallen
Is it possible to reconstruct history as an objective entity? Or is this prevented by deficient memory, human narcissism and the will to manipulate? Does objectivity remain merely an ethical wish?
These are the central questions in Sven Augustijnen's unusual film essay Spectres. As documentary, portrait and thriller at the same time it never takes up a position but allows various voices to speak and mixes journalism, politics and history.
The protagonist of Spectres is Jacques Brassinne de la Buissière, who in 1960 – the year of the execution of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the independent Congo – was active in the young state as a member of the Belgian government. The precise background of this execution and those responsible for it remain unknown and are the subject of speculation and conspiracy theories. The film analyses the themes of history and the writing of history through the figure of the 80 year-old Brassinne – who researched Lumumba’s death for years and among other things wrote a book about the last 50 days of the politician’s life – and shows how it is always influenced by subjective perception. An engrossing 100-minute journey visits various locations in Belgium and the Congo, shows people who influenced this historic moment and brings the events alive again for the audience.
Duration: 103 minutes, F/e
The screening takes place in the context of the exhibition also named «Spectres» at the Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen (13 August until 9 October 2011).
After the screening, Sven Augustijnen and Giovanni Carmine, director of the Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen and curator of the exhibition «Spectres», will be talking about the making of and the reception of the film. Duration: approx. 45 minutes
Tuesday, 17 December 2024, 6pm
Thursday, 13 February 2025, 12pm