Andrew Kötting will take part in a Q&A after the screening
The experimental British filmmaker Andrew Kötting is an artist constantly finding new ways to expand his canvas, whether that’s via the more traditional feature, multimedia projects involving films, performances, books and exhibitions, or cruising up a canal with Iain Sinclair. This Our Still Life is a nod to Kötting’s first feature, Gallivant (also shown here, see p. 102), in that it’s a documentary (of sorts – don’t expect story, voiceover and talking heads) and is fascinated by place and family. Since 1989, Kötting, his wife Leila and daughter Eden, whose sight and communication are restricted by Joubert Syndrome, have spent part of their lives in Louyre, their remote home in the Pyrenees.
This Our Still Life is Kötting’s attempt to make sense of their life and the footage he has shot in this bolthole on various cameras and formats over the years. The film moves through the four seasons, but mostly it’s a flickering and wilful impression of family life, characterised by found footage edited together with Kötting’s archive, indistinct voices, stark captions and a moody score by Scanner. There’s a sadness running through the film’s reflection on time passing but there’s also joy at familial love and, above all, the bond between a father and daughter. - Dave Calhoun, Time Out London
