watch — film and video
compost heaps #1
duration: 10'
source formats: 8mm, video
production format: video
distribution: HD video
Compost Heaps #1 is a video letter addressing the artist's father, a retired engineer dividing his time between his French and Hungarian homes. I wanted to bring to light a sequence of shots we made while spending a spring afternoon in his Rennes apartment in Bretagne, France several years ago.
Like compost, it takes time for experiences to decompose into something of value. Bodies, like consciousness, take time to sift things through. The material was buried in folders with the outtakes of a previous film. I opened the folders to start a new dialogue. With him and with myself. On language and identity. On my fascination with his daily routine. On how he copes with loneliness.
The dramaturgical decision to exclude my father's French life-world from a previous film was as contingent as any other decision we made when constructing that film.
In the spirit of Jonas Mekas, let the outtakes be the film now! What if cinema was anchored in a more egalitarian version of reality?
Composed during the workshop "Letters to Friends" hosted by Herb Schellenberger and Rupert, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Written, directed and edited by Miki Ambrózy
Performed by György Ambrózy
Photographed by Miki Ambrózy
Music by Kostas Hanis, Gaspar
2019, 8mm and HDV, 10'
Stills
(c) Miki Ambrózy 2013, 2019