Full house at Godard exhibition
Back in the Portuguese capital, the second day highlight of Leffest Film Festival was the inauguration of the exhibition "L'éloge de l'Image – Le Livre d'Image," inspired by Jean-Luc Godard's latest film, which received a Special Palme d'Or at the 71st Cannes Film Festival in 2018.
Over two hundred visitors filled this central event in the Leffest program at the Sinel de Cordes Palace, including the presence of international figures such as artist Laurie Anderson, actress Gina Gershon, and musician Nitin Sawhney. Fabrice Aragno, curator of the exhibition, led an annotated tour exploring the imaginary and creative process of an author who left his mark on the nouvelle vague. "A unique fusion of moving image and movement through space, where architecture and cinema merge in the fourth dimension of the seventh art. Our presence as we traverse the palace challenges the temporal perception of the projected images accompanying us, making us simultaneously actors in space and in the image. Godard is present," in the words of Manuel Henriques, executive director of the Triennale.
© Ana Paganini
The exhibition, reflecting the singularity of Godard's extensive career, is the result of meticulous collaboration between the filmmaker and Fabrice Aragno, an intimate friend and collaborator for over two decades. The immersive content, which fills the public space from the foyer to the courtyard, functions as a film-installation. The path, unfolding along sections predetermined by a régie, triggers sequences with irregular editing that allow for different interpretations at each moment.
José Mateus, chairman of the Triennale, highlights that, "in both cinema and architecture, questioning conventions is at the core of a renewing vision capable of overcoming the inertia of established narratives. Beyond the narrow circle of cinema, Jean-Luc Godard has influenced various other disciplines, including architecture itself." Leffest, present in six Lisbon venues - Cine-Teatro Turim, Academia das Ciências, Palácio Sinel de Cordes, Galeria Imago, Cinema Nimas, and Teatro Tivoli BBVA - significantly marked the city's cultural agenda. The exhibition is open until 2 December 2023.