RELAX BE CRUEL

by Marion SCEMAMA
1983-2023 / 16mm / b&w / sound / 1S / 39' 00

In 1983, I made a film in New York at Pier 34, an abandoned warehouse open to the elements and to anonymous homosexual encounters, with walls decorated with large murals, often of a sexual content. It was shot in 16mm B&W with an Äaton camera. At the beginning it was a fiction, the story of a marginal punk in need of housing, vaguely artist and who squatted the place. The film was about the story of various random encounters with other marginalized people, each as bizarre as the others, and the intriguing scenes of anonymous sexual encounters she witnessed through holes in the walls, dilapidated ceilings, and dark corridors, all of which were lulled by the lapping of the Hudson River and the sprays of light that pierced the gaping facades and roofs.
As it happens, over the years and through the twists and turns of life, including a fire at my house, I lost the negatives and working copy of this film. I was left with several hours of outtakes and unused rushes, whose images and sounds remained aesthetically beautiful.
Thanks to Atelier 105, I was able to make this new 40-minute cut, the only filmed testimony of the Pier, which was demolished shortly afterwards, and over the years became emblematic of the boiling underground scene that exploded in the early 80s, the last space of freedom before the AIDS years.
– Marion Scemama


post production: ATELIER 105

5 PRINTS IN DISTRIBUTION


distribution format Digital file on USB stick (FHD)
notes separate subtitles available in english
screen 4/3 (single screen)
speed 24 fps
sound sound
original language English
rental fee 150,00 €

distribution format Digital file on USB stick (FHD)
screen 4/3 (single screen)
speed 24 fps
sound sound
original language English
translation French (Embedded subtitles)
rental fee 150,00 €

distribution format DCP on USB stick (INTEROP 2K)
version French version
screen 4/3 (single screen)
speed 24 fps
sound sound
original language English
translation French (Embedded subtitles)
rental fee 150,00 €

distribution format DCP on server (INTEROP 2K)
notes separate subtitles available in english
screen 4/3 (single screen)
speed 24 fps
sound sound
original language English
rental fee 150,00 €

distribution format DCP on server (INTEROP 2K)
screen 4/3 (single screen)
speed 24 fps
sound sound
original language English
translation French (Embedded subtitles)
rental fee 150,00 €