ROHMER IN PARIS

A LOVE LETTER TO LEGENDARY NOUVELLE VAGUE FILM-MAKER ERIC ROHMER AND THE WORLD CAPITAL OF CINEMA. THE FILM BEGINS WITH A CHANCE ENCOUNTER WITH ROHMER IN 1994, WHILE HE WAS FILMING RENDEZ-VOUS IN PARIS ON LOCATION IN MONTMARTRE. THIS ACCIDENTAL CONNECTION BECOMES THE BASIS FOR A PASSIONATE EXPLORATION OF ROHMER’S LIFELONG RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CITY AND THE MANY CINEMATIC JOURNEYS HE MADE THROUGH IT. INNOVATIVELY COMBINING BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY, PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY, SPECULATIVE FICTION, AND REMIX, THE FILM PROVIDES A NARRATED TOUR OF ROHMER’S WORKS, OF MODERN PARIS, AND OF THE PAINS AND PLEASURES OF CINEPHILIA.

ROHMER IN PARIS STARTED LIFE AS AN ACADEMIC PROJECT ABOUT CITIES AND FILM, BUT GRADUALLY DEVELOPED INTO SOMETHING MORE PERSONAL: A CINEPHILIC JOURNEY INTO ANOTHER FILM-MAKER’S WORLD. SO, ON THE ONE HAND, THE FILM IS A CAREFULLY RESEARCHED STUDY OF ERIC ROHMER’S PARIS. PARIS WAS THE CENTRE OF ROHMER’S WORLD AND THE MAIN CHARACTER IN HIS FILMS. THE FILM EXAMINES HIS EVOLVING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CITY
 BY TRACING HIS MANY CINEMATIC ROUTES THROUGH IT. ON THE OTHER HAND, ROHMER IN PARIS IS ALSO A PERSONAL RESPONSE TO ROHMER’S FILMS. IT IS
 A RESULT OF LONG HOURS SPENT IN THEIR COMPANY, AND AN ATTEMPT TO DOCUMENT THIS EXTENDED ACT OF LOOKING. BY USING ONLY IMAGES FROM ROHMER’S FILMS, I HAVE TRIED TO SHOW HIS FILMS REFLECTED IN MY GAZE. GRADUALLY, AS I WORKED ON THE FILM, MY ACT OF LOOKING TURNED INTO FASCINATION AND THEN OBSESSION. I BEGAN TO REFER TO THE FILM AS ROHMER OBSESSION PROJECT. I STILL THINK IT’S AN APT TITLE. ROHMER IN PARIS DOCUMENTS BOTH ROHMER’S OBSESSION WITH PARIS AND THE PARTICULAR FORM OF OBSESSION COMMONLY KNOWN AS CINEPHILIA.

WRITING/EDITING

RICHARD MISEK WAS BORN IN LIVERPOOL, AND EDUCATED AT OXFORD AND HARVARD. AFTER WORKING AS A VIDEO EDITOR, HE COMPLETED A PHD IN SCREEN STUDIES AT MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY IN 2008. HE HAS SINCE WRITTEN NUMEROUS ACADEMIC ARTICLES ON FILM AESTHETICS, AS WELL AS A BOOK ON THE HISTORY OF COLOUR IN CINEMA (CHROMATIC CINEMA, WILEY-BLACKWELL, 2010). HIS MAIN INTEREST IS IN SPACE-TIME: HOW IT IS REPRESENTED, MANIPULATED, PERCEIVED, AND CONCEIVED. HE LONGS FOR ALTERNATIVE SPATIO-TEMPORALITIES, BUT ALSO ANALYSES THEIR EVERYDAY SHAPE (ESPECIALLY IN THE FORM OF CITIES AND FILMS). ROHMER IN PARIS IS HIS FIRST FEATURE-LENGTH FILM.

MORE FILMS ABOUT CITIES AND FILM TO FOLLOW.

MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN

TATSUJIRO OTO WAS BORN & RAISED IN MOUNT FUJI, JAPAN. AN AWARD-WINNING COMPOSER/SOUND DESIGNER, TATSUJIRO BEGAN HIS CAREER AS AN ARTIST AND MUSIC PRODUCER, RELEASING ALBUMS, SINGLES, REMIXES, AND SONG-WRITING FOR VARIOUS MAJOR LABELS IN TOKYO. IN 2002, HE MOVED TO LONDON AND STARTED SCORING/DESIGNING SOUNDSCAPES FOR FILM, ADVERTISING, THEATRE, MV & TV (PRODIGY, ITV1, MINI, NEW BALANCE, HENNESSY, POETRY MARATHON AT SERPENTINE GALLERY WITH JONAS MEKAS & EDWARD EKE). CO-FOUNDER OF ATOM AUDIO PRODUCTIONS WITH FIVE COMPOSERS AND STEREOART WITH CELLIST/COMPOSER MARTIN RADFORD.

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“A STUDY IN CONCENTRIC OBSESSIONS… THIS CORNUCOPIA OF OPTIMALLY CHOSEN PRIMARY SOURCES, WITH ITS DEFT JUXTAPOSITIONS AND LEISURELY EXTENDED SCENES, IS A GUILTY PLEASURE [AND] REPS PRIME FEST FARE.”
VARIETY

“A THOUGHTFUL, INSIGHTFUL AND GENTLY ENGAGING AMBULATION THROUGH PARIS AS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF FRENCH DIRECTOR ERIC ROHMER, RICHARD MISEK’S SMARTLY CONSTRUCTED FILM IS NO SIMPLE BIOGRAPHY… IT IS A FASCINATING JOURNEY THROUGH A CHANGING CITY, WITH ROHMER ALWAYS A CONSISTENT AND THOUGHTFUL GUIDE.”
SCREEN DAILY

“A CANNY ASSEMBLAGE [THAT] REVEALS ROHMER’S CAREER-LONG EMPHASIS ON HIS CHARACTERS’ MAP-ACCURATE PASSAGE THROUGH THE STREETS OF PARIS.”
THE NEW YORKER

“NO TRUE CINEPHILE SHOULD MISS THE DELIGHTFUL ROHMER IN PARIS, WHICH, SHORT OF PROMPTING AN IMMEDIATE FLIGHT TO PARIS, SHOULD URGE VIEWERS TO RE-WATCH EVERY MOVIE ÉRIC ROHMER MADE IN THAT CITY… WITH THE HELP OF A BOUNTIFUL COLLECTION OF CLIPS FROM THE FILMS, PLACED WITH THE PRECISION OF AN ASTUTE FILM HISTORIAN, MISEK HAS CREATED A WORK OF INTELLIGENCE AND PASSION WORTHY OF HIS SUBJECT.”
ARTFORUM

‘FILM REVIEW: ROHMER IN PARIS’
RONNIE SCHEIB VARIETY

‘ROHMER IN PARIS’
MARK ADAMS SCREEN DAILY

‘WAVELENGTHS: FRENCH CONNECTIONS AT MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE’
RICHARD BRODY THE NEW YORKER

‘LOOKING GOOD’
TONY PIPOLO ARTFORUM