Film directors and documentarians mostly trade in far flug locations and fantasy worlds but it’s exciting when they occasionally cast their well trained eyes on something a little closer to home. Small remote villages, with all their mundane human comedy and small town politics, have provided ample fodder for directors, especially when there’s a personal connection. Recently we had Sleep Furiously, Gideon Koepple’s meditative study of the farming community where his parents live, Greetings From The Woods by Mikel Cee Karlsson examined the strange Swedish town he grew up; but the tradition goes back to David Gladwell’s Requiem For A Village and Andrew Kötting’s many features on rural life.
At the Lexi this Sunday there’s a rare opportunity to catch Ingmar Bergman’s twin documentaries about the island of Fårö off the coast of Sweden, where he lived for many years and shot some of his most iconic works. Films like Persona and Hour Of The Wolf hinge on an overpowering sense of isolation (but also meditative tranquility) and Fårö, whose residents number in the hundreds, makes a perfect backdrop.
Fårödokument 1969 and 1979 will be introduced by Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place) whose recent directorial debut Submarine gave a peek at the range of his cinematic influences. The Quietus will be curious to discover how these oft forgotten films informed his work.
‘A Nos Amours’ presents
INGMAR BERGMAN’S FARO DOKUMENTS 1969 & 1979
Lexi Cinema Sunday 25th March 5.30pm
Introduced by RICHARD AYOADE
More info can be found here
