Patrick Bokanowski (born 23 June

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 ...

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques d ...

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

) is a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

filmmaker who makes

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

and

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

films.

Career

The film '' The Angel'' (

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

) is his most prominent work. It is accompanied by a soundtrack made by his wife, Michèle Bokanowski, and released on the 2003 CD album, ''L'Ange', by the label . Bokanowski develops work between the traditional cinematographic genres:

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

, and

animation Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

. His manner of treating filmic material is his research at the frontier of optical and visual arts, always in an "in-between" to create. He calls into question the idea that cinema's essence should be to reproduce reality, that is, our habits of thinking and feeling. His films contradict the "objectivity" of photography that is solidly essential to most of the global film productions. Bokanowski's experiments, with the aim of opening cinema to other expressive possibilities – for example the "warping" of objective lenses (though he prefers the term "subjective") – testify to purely mental visions that ignore conventional representations, affecting reality, transforming, and giving the viewer of his films new perceptual adventures. In the booklet that accompanies the DVD which contains Bokanowski's sole two documentaries (''La Part du Hasard'',

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, on the painter Henri Dimier; and ''Le Rêve éveillé'',

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

; dialogues between the psychotherapist Colette Aboulker-Muscat and her patients), editor Pip Chodorov wrote: "The search for the overrunning of perception, and thereby oneself, is an expression of the spirituality present in the lives of these two figures: inspiration that we also found in Bokanowski's films, which are also searches into abstraction in the real, mysterious blanks that recover the daily. In his film '' The Angel'', characters search for light, and rise in spirals towards beacons of white and pure light, the librarian-researchers conduct a fierce intellectual quest, hoping for an illuminating response buried under mountains of books. Light plays a central role for the filmmaker, just like it does for the painter and therapist, as a peak of dramatic pleasure. We are pulled forward, upward, through these leaks in the twilight towards the light." According to

Raphaël Bassan Raphaël Bassan (born 1948) is a French film critic and journalist, who has specialized in experimental film and the history of cinema. He has also made three short movies. Biography Bassan was born in Burgas, Bulgaria, of French nationality, ...

, in his article «'' L'Ange'': Un météore dans le ciel de l'animation,» Patrick Bokanowski's work can be considered the beginnings of contemporary

Filmography

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

: ''La Femme qui se poudre'', 16 mm, Black and White, 15 Minutes. *

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

: ''Déjeuner du matin'', 16 mm, Color, 11 Minutes and 30 Seconds. *

: '' L'Ange'', 35 mm, Color, 64 Minutes and 5 Seconds. *

: ''La Part du hasard'', 16 mm, Color, 52 Minutes. *

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

: ''La Plage'', 16 mm, Color, 12 Minutes and 45 Seconds. *

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

: ''Au bord du lac'', 16 mm, Color, 5 Minutes and 30 Seconds. *

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

: ''Flammes'', 35 mm, Color, 3 Minutes and 40 Seconds. *

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

: ''Le Canard à l'orange'', 16 mm, Color, 8 Minutes. *

: ''Eclats d'Orphée'', 16 mm, Color, 4 Minutes and 35 Seconds. *

: ''Le Rêve éveillé'', Video, Color, 41 Minutes. *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

: ''Battements solaires'', 35 mm, Color, 17 Minutes and 45 Seconds. *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

: ''Un Rêve'', 35 mm, Color, 30 Minutes and 55 Seconds. *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

: ''Un Rêve Solaire'', 35 mm, Color, 63 minutes. *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

: ''L’envol'', Color, 8 minutes. *

: ''L’indomptable'', Color, 4 minutes.

References

Publications about his films

*Gérard Langlois, «L'image standard en question,» ''Cinéma pratique'', n° 137, mai–juin 1975, p. 46–49, 80. * Dominique Noguez, «Préface du catalogue,»
Trente ans de cinéma expérimental en France: 1950–1980
', Paris, ARCEF, 1982. *

, «Bokanowski/Kamler: Deux avant-gardes graphiques,» ''Canal'', n° 49, juillet–septembre 1982. *

, «'' L'Ange'': Un météore dans le ciel de l'animation,»
La Revue du cinéma
', n° 393, avril 1984. *Vincent Ostria,
L'escalier de l'être-ange
» ''

Cahiers du cinéma ''Cahiers du Cinéma'' (, ) is a French film magazine co-founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca.Itzkoff, Dave (9 February 2009''Cahiers Du Cinéma Will Continue to Publish''The New York TimesMacnab ...

'', n° 358, avril 1984, p. 46–47. *Youssef Ishaghpour, «Bokanowski: '' L'Ange'',»
Cinéma contemporain: De ce côté du miroir
', Paris, Éditions de la Différence, 1986, p. 318–331. * Dominique Noguez, «La montée de la lumière: Bokanowski,»
Le cinéma autrement
', Paris,

Éditions du Cerf ''Éditions du Cerf'' (French: "Editions of the Deer") is a French publishing house specializing in religious books. It was founded in 1929, and operated by the Dominican Order. The name is a reference to Psalm 42 (41): As the hart panteth ...

, 1987, p. 280–281. *Patrick Bokanowski, «'' L'Ange'',» ''Noise n° 12'', Paris, Maeght Éditeur, 1990. *Sous la direction de María Klonáris et Katerína Thomadáki, ''Technologies et imaginaires: Art cinéma, art vidéo, art ordinateur'', Paris, Dis Voir, 1990. *Entretien de Patrick Bokanowski avec le Groupe Art Toung, «Styles d'image cinématographique,» ''Revue & Corrigée'', n° 8, printemps 1991, p. 22–25. *

Jean-Michel Frodon Jean-Michel Frodon (born 20 September 1953 in Paris) is a journalist, critic and historian of cinema. Biography Born Jean-Michel Billard, he writes with a pseudonym borrowed from Frodo of ''The Lord of the Rings''. He has a master's degree and a ...

, «Les enquêteurs du regard,» ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', 27 janvier 1994. * Dominique Noguez, «Préface à la rétrospective à la

Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume Jeu de Paume ( en, Real Tennis Court) is an arts centre for modern and postmodern photography and media. It is located in the north corner (west side) of the Tuileries Gardens next to the Place de la Concorde in Paris. In 2004, Galerie Nationale ...

,» février–mars 1994. *Vincent Ostria, «Patrick Bokanowski,» ''

'', n° 478, avril 1994, p. 10–11. *Jacques Kermabon, «Portrait Patrick Bokanowski,» ''Bref, le magazine du court métrage'', n° 20, février–mars–avril 1994, p. 17–19. *
Patrick Bokanowski
» Catalogue sous la direction de Jean-Michel Bouhours, ''L'art du mouvement: Collection cinématographique du

Musée national d'art moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement of the city. In 2021 it ranked 10th in t ...

, 1919–1996'', Paris,

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

, 1996, p. 52–53. *Scott MacDonald, "Patrick Bokanowski on '' The Angel'',"
A Critical Cinema: Interviews with Independent Filmmakers 3
', Oakland,

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facul ...

, 1998, pp. 262–273. * Dominique Noguez,
Éloge du cinéma expérimental
', Classiques de l'Avant-garde, Paris, Éditions Paris Expérimental, 2ème édition, 1999. *Hugo Bélit, «Des flammes! Notes sur trois courts métrages de Patrick Bokanowski,» ''Bref, le magazine du court métrage'', n° 42, automne 1999, p. 10–11. *Patrick Bokanowski,
Réflexions optiques
» Sous la direction de Christian Lebrat et Nicole Brenez, ''Jeune, dure et pure! Une histoire du cinéma d'avant-garde et expérimental en France'', Paris et Milan,

Cinémathèque française The Cinémathèque Française (), founded in 1936, is a French non-profit film organization that holds one of the largest archives of film documents and film-related objects in the world. Based in Paris's 12th arrondissement, the archive offers ...

, Musée du cinéma, et Mazzotta, 2001, p. 486–489. *Hugo Bélit, «Bokanowski, Patrick,» Sous la direction de Jacky Evrard et Jacques Kermabon, ''Une encyclopédie du court-métrage français'', Côté cinéma, Pantin et Crisnée, Éditions festival Côté Court et Yellow Now, 2004, p. 54–59. *Tamara Rama and Carmen Lloret, «Unveiling and Revealing the Mirror: Mobile Reverberations in Patrick Bokanowski’s Animated Films,» Animation: an interdisciplinary journal. SAGE Publishing. Vol 14; Issue 2, 2019, pp. 83–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/1746847719856997

External links

*
Patrick Bokanowski
at the

TCM Movie Database Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bokanowski, Patrick 1943 births 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French male writers 21st-century French non-fiction writers French animated film directors Animation screenwriters Documentary film editors French documentary film producers French animated film producers French animators French cinematographers French documentary film directors French experimental filmmakers French film editors French film producers French-language film directors French non-fiction writers French male screenwriters French screenwriters French people of Polish descent Living people People from Algiers Film people from Paris Pieds-Noirs Silent film directors Silent film producers Algerian people of Polish descent French male non-fiction writers