Le Cercle des noyés R: Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd Land: Belgien/Frankreich 2007 Drehformat: HDV Format: HD, s/w Länge: 75 Minuten Sprache: Fula, Französisch mehr Informationen

"Le cercle des noyés" (Der Kreis der Ertrunkenen) – so nannte man die politischen Gefangenen, die im Jahr 1986 in Mauretanien aufgrund ihres Kampfes für die Gleichberechtigung der Schwarzen gefangen genommen und, abgeschnitten von der Außenwelt, jahrelang in einer Festung in der Wüste festgehalten wurden. Dort mussten sie unmenschliche Zustände, Demütigungen, Zwangsarbeit und Folter erdulden.
Le Cercle des noyés ist ein politischer Dokumentarfilm, der ästhetisch und politisch gleichermaßen reflektiert ist, ohne dass das eine auf Kosten des anderen leiden müsste. [aus dem Forumprogramm]

How would you describe the aesthetics of your film?
I chose a poetic black and white imagery, most of the time using immobile and picture-like shots.
The shots unfurl: their length translate a particulat experience of time that match the subject of the film.
Most of the time, the camera was used with a tripod. Some other times, in order to translate a more subjective approach, I used it more freely, just carrying it by hand. The intention, from the very beginning of the shooting, was to use the camera myself without delegating this gesture to a cameraman, therefore allowing a continuous writing process.


Why did you choose to shoot on a digital format (was it solely for financial reasons, or did aesthetics play a role)?
The HD tests that we carried out showed greater possiblities to work at the limits of overexposition in places such as Mauritania and the desert where light conditions are extreme.
HD also allowed me to shoot with a reduced crew: I filmed myself, just beeing accompanied with a sound ingeneer, which was the only possible way to work considering the clandestine dimension of the shooting in relation with the political context in place.

Which format exactly did you choose (MiniDV, DVCAM, HDV, HD...), and why?
HDV for the shooting and HD for the screening.

What was special about shooting digital (e.g. compared to 35mm, was it your first time with dv or are you used to it ..)?
After 5 films shot in digital format, it was my first shooting in HDV.
One of the most interesting things was to be able to shoot directly in Black and white with a video camera. This was made possible because of the high quality of the Black and white profile proposed by the camera, that I coupled with the use of filters during the shooting process.

What was your shoot-edit ratio?
-

One good word about DV / HDV (or two):
HDV is the ideal instrument considering its practicality in relation with cinema of reality.

One bad word about DV / HDV (or two):
Ideal in black and white / to be verified in color.