Si c'était de l'amour

The film about Gisèle Vienne’s dance piece “Crowd” is a techno party gone rave, awash with repetitive movements, physical and emotional encounters between fifteen bodies charged with sexual energy. The camera keeps us plunged into the heart of the choreography, repeatedly zooming out to allow for an insight into the rehearsal process. Through staged one-on-one conversations between the performers, we learn about the background story of their characters. In this way, the characters in the choreography become the characters of the film: there is a trans* boy, a “Nazi” boy that desires a gay boy, a girl attracted to troubled people, and a
woman who exudes raw sexuality. Reality and fiction begin to blend. Loud electronic music accompanies the ecstatic bodies moving in slow motion. The cinema becomes a rave and an extension of the stage, and a dance documentary turns into an exhilarating neon-lit fresco of a young, international troupe.
Continuing his exploration of alienation, hyper-sensuality, emotional violence, human tenderness, and performance of (queer) sexuality, Patric Chiha has created a transformative film with a distinctive style, dripping with visual and emotional intensity.

details

  • Runtime

    82 min
  • Country

    France
  • Year of Presentation

    2020
  • Year of Production

    2020
  • Director

    Patric Chiha
  • Cast

    Gisèle Vienne, Marine Chesnais, Philip Berlin, Sylvain Decloitre, Kerstin Daley-Baradel
  • Production Company

    Aurora Films
  • Berlinale Section

    Panorama
  • Berlinale Category

    Documentary Film
  • Teddy Award Winner

    Best Documentary/ Essay Film

Biography Patric Chiha

Born in Vienna, Austria in 1975, he studied fashion design in Paris and then film editing at the INSAS film school in Brussels. His short and documentary films have screened at several festivals. His feature film debut Domaine, starring Béatrice Dalle, premiered at the 2009 Venice Film Festival. His documentary Brothers of the Night screened in the 2016 Panorama.

Filmography Patric Chiha

2001 De Vienne | 2002 Albertine! | 2004 Casa ugalde | 2005 Le jardin | 2005 Les messieurs | 2006 Home | 2007 Ou se trouve le chef de la prison? | 2009 Domaine | 2012 Sol LeWitt | 2014 Boys Like Us | 2020 Si c'était de l'amour