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by Malena SZLAM
2024 / 16mm / color / sound / 1 screen / 20' 00
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“Archipelago of Earthen Bones — To Bunya” traces alternative cartographies of time, rooted in the very geologic formations of our planet. Examining volcanic time as a means to comprehend and express Earth’s geological history, the film seeks a sensing and knowing that recognizes the divergent nature of the time scales that surround us. From almost instantaneous catastrophic ruptures to the formation of mountains over millions of years, the film invites us to become immersed in time.
Using tectonic plates as imaginary maps, Szlam films a constellation of ancient landforms, from the eroded vestiges of volcanic activity to the relics of the Gondwana Rainforest, tracing a path along the central eastern ranges of Australia, which were illuminated in the afterglows of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai eruption. Szlam films on 16mm and edits in-camera, creating dazzling landscapes through multiple exposures. The vibrations, murmurings and signals of Earth form the soundscape composed by Australian artist Lawrence English. “Archipelago of Earthen Bones — To Bunya” evokes the layered histories of Mount Beerwah to the titular Bunya Mountains, rendering a unique perspective on the shifting faces of our environments.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners as custodians and knowledge keepers of the unceded lands throughout Australia. We recognise their continuous connection to country and extend our respect to Aboriginal and Zenadth Kes Islander peoples and to Elders past, present and future. This work was created across the lands of the Turrbal, Yuggera, Jinibara, Gubbi Gubbi, Wakka Wakka, Jarowair, Barrumgum, Quandamooka and Butchulla Peoples.
Cinematography, Camera, Editing: Malena Szlam
Sound Recording and Composition: Lawrence English
Production: John Edmond
SYNOPSIS
“Archipelago of Earthen Bones — To Bunya” forms part of a film constellation that stretches across the Pacific, from Chile to Australia. Malena Szlam trains her camera on far-flung volcanic landscapes, by turns barren and verdant. The dazzling in-camera multiple exposures of the film evoke the layered histories of Mount Beerwah to the titular Bunya Mountains, tracing a path along the Gondwana Rainforest in the central eastern ranges of Australia, which were illuminated in the afterglow of Hunga-Ha'apai eruption. The film’s environmental evocations are further deepened by field recordings and sonified atmospheres from artist Lawrence English. — TIFF’s Wavelengths
“Like the volcanos themselves, Archipelago is generative of new, as-yet impossible spaces. With its saturated color palette, partly resulting from the refraction of sunlight through volcanic ash in the sky, Archipelago provides visual sensations midway between photographic materialism and painterly abstraction, the environment offering transitory Rothkos and Max Ernst dreamscapes. Archipelago reflects the very best of the type of filmmaking for which Wavelengths exists.” — Michael Sicinski
1 PRINT IN DISTRIBUTION
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distribution format |
DCP on server (INTEROP 2K) |
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screen |
1,33 (single screen) |
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speed |
24 fps |
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sound |
sound |
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rental fee |
160,00 € |
