Cavalcade

Can we believe our eyes? The short films of Johann Lurf often explore the enigmatic territory between the real and the perceived, challenging our senses to comprehend visions and sounds taken from the environment around us by means of subtle, beautiful trompe l´oeil effects. Cavalcade, equally dazzling in 2D or 3D, sees him make a direct intervention into physical space for the first time.
The artist designed and constructed a 150cm-diameter water-wheel, with one face divided into various patterned circles of varying shapes and colour. It was then fixed in place in a stream; we observe the wheel in rest, motion and rest again from a single vantage-point, as it is illuminated by strobe-lights synchronised with 35mm cameras. Clockwise and anti-clockwise movement disorientingly, magically interweave.
"Each time the film flow is interrupted to record an image, the strobe light seemingly freezes the motion of the waterwheel—unleashing its motion patterns and creating an illusion of reversed motion and standstill—contradicting its actual speed. Our perception is tricked twice simultaneously: the illusion of the moving image is created in-camera while the illusion of standstill is enforced by the strobing on the water-wheel´s patterns." (Lurf)
Over three minutes the revolutions accelerate in audibly mechanical crescendo, blades spurting water into air; eventually, the atmospheric tree-heavy waterside calm of the night reasserts itself. A hypnotic nocturne which gracefully intersects experimental cinema with the sensational world of the funfair — Lurf´s title is evocatively redolent of showbiz spectaculars — Cavalcade provides a fleeting but indelible light in the darkness. This vision persists. (Neil Young)

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Mention Spéciale Nouvelles Vagues / La-Roche-sur-Yon (Award)

"We have decided to give a special mention to a film that reminds us that cinema is composed of a plurality of languages, forms and aesthetics. Thus, for the fascinating use of the cinematographic image in its fabulous dimension, we would like to give a special mention to CAVALCADE."

Jury Statement La-Roche-sur-Yon Festival 2019
Orig. Title
Cavalcade
Year
2019
Country
Austria
Duration
5 min
Director
Johann Lurf
Category
Experimental
Orig. Language
No Dialogue
Downloads
Cavalcade (Image)
Credits
Director
Johann Lurf
Cinematography
Martin Putz
Camera Assistant
Christian Mitterbauer
Sound
Nora Czamler
Sound Mix
Alexander Koller
Lighting
David Siebert, Cedric Dugueperoux, Daniel Steiner
Supported by
Diagonale, Wien Kultur MA 7
Available Formats
DCP 4K flat
Sound Format
7.1 surround
Frame Rate
24 fps
Color Format
colour
35mm 3D
Sound Format
SRD
Frame Rate
24 fps
Color Format
colour
DCP 2k 3D
Sound Format
7.1 surround
Frame Rate
24 fps
Color Format
colour
35 mm
Sound Format
SRD
Frame Rate
24 fps
Color Format
colour
Festivals (Selection)
2019
Wien - Two Days Animation Festival
Vancouver - Int. Film Festival
München - UnderDox, Festival für Dokument und Experiment
Wiesbaden - exground on screen
Zagreb - 25fps Film & Video Festival
Uppsala - Int. Short Film Festival
Tokyo - Image Forum Festival
Sodankylä - Midnight Sun Film Festival
Rotterdam - Int. Filmfestival
Graz - Diagonale, Festival des österreichischen Films
Vilnius Film Festival - “Kino pavasaris”
Buenos Aires Festival Int. de Cine Independiente BAFICI
Hamburg - Internationales Kurzfilmfestival (European Film Academy Nominée)
Wien - VIS Vienna Shorts
Basel - Bildrausch Film Festival
Vila do Conde - Festival Internacional de Curtas-Metragens
Palic - Festival of European Film
Prizren - DokuFest, International Documentary and Short Film Festival
Mexico – Black Canvas Festival de Cine Contemporáno
La-Roche-sur-Yon Festival du Film (Mention Spéciale Nouvelles Vagues)
Cork - IndieCork Film Festival
Gijon - International Film Festival
2020
Hong Kong - Int. Film Festival
Knoxville - Big Ears Music and Film Festival
Dresden - Filmfest
Medina del Campo Film Festival
Stuttgart - Filmwinter, Expanded Media Festival
2021
Marseille - RISC Rencontres Int. Sciences et Film