AXE

by Christoph JANETZKO
2004 / 35mm / color / silent / 1S / 9' 30

This film is a compilation made out of the discarded clippings of various other films...

AXE (pronounced ASHAY) is a key word in the Yoruba language, spoken in West Africa (Nigeria) and means «life force".

The film emulsion was altered through a series of biochemical processes and collage techniques in order to form a visual metaphor for the multifarious appearances and transformations present in African religious rituals.

The stylistic devices of abstract expressionist painting seemed to me to be best suited to represent the phenomenon of the ritual frenzy. There are a number of parallels between chilhood games and certains forms of religious ritual that the film attempts to illustrate through the use of montage.

And although the beat of the African drum influenced therhythm of the cut, i decided in the end of the dispense with sound altogether so as not to influence the suggestive effect of the film.

1 PRINT IN DISTRIBUTION


distribution format 35mm
screen 1,33 - Silent (single screen)
speed 24 fps
sound silent
rental fee 35,00 €