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 is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

) is a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

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 whe ...

and

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

films.

Career

The film ''

The Angel Angels are a type of creature present in many mythologies. Angel or Angels may refer to: Places * Angel (river), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany * Angel, London, an area of London ** Angel tube station ** The Angel, Islington, a building from ...

'' (

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 Michèle Bokanowski (born 9 August 1943) is a French composer. She was born in Cannes, and was educated in traditional music. She continued her studies in composition in Paris with Michel Puig and in electronic music in 1970 at the Service de la ...

, 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 a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...

, and

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

. 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 The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

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 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

; 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 ''

'', 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, i ...

, 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 Solar time, ...

: '' 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 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

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

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

: ''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 Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

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

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

: ''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 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

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

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

: ''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 Dominique Noguez, (12 September 1942 – 15 March 2019) was a French writer. He won the Prix Femina in 1997, for ''Amour noir''. He taught the history of film at the Sorbonne. He was an early defender of Michel Houellebecq Michel Houellebecq ...

, «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'', 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. *

, «La montée de la lumière: Bokanowski,»
Le cinéma autrement
', Paris, Éditions du Cerf, 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 (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'', 27 janvier 1994. *

, «Préface à la rétrospective à la Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume,» février–mars 1994. *Vincent Ostria, «Patrick Bokanowski,» '' Cahiers du cinéma'', 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 the 4th arrondissement of Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou. In 2021 it ranked 10th in the list of ...

, 1919–1996'', Paris,

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

, 1996, p. 52–53. *Scott MacDonald, "Patrick Bokanowski on ''

'',"
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 faculty ...

, 1998, pp. 262–273. *

,
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 A cinematheque is an archive of films and film-related objects with an exhibition venue. Similarly to a book library (bibliothèque in French), a cinematheque is responsible for preserving and making available to the public film heritage. Typically ...

, 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 ...

* * {{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 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 Film directors from Algiers Film people from Paris Pieds-noirs French silent film directors Silent film producers Algerian people of Polish descent French male non-fiction writers