Jonathan Franco - When i let go
25:00, 2006Once when I was a child my mother took me to the beach for the first time. I have a defective eye condition since childhood that obstructs me from seeing the world with clarity. My idea for this video was to recreate the smudged and "out of focus" memories that I have of that day at the beach. Through the manipulation of photographs taken at that time, place and during the occurring of that same moment.An evocative film of infancy. My first day at the beach was very significant for me and I would like to share that with this video.
Very small living things
A man talks about the changes in his life after being infected with a venereal disease. The disillusion of intimacy, skin manifestations and social rejection. An everyday attempt to overcome loss and loneliness thru self acceptance, awareness and a belief in the possibility of happiness. It’s a video about rejection by the denial of the body.
Stumble
Two children sitting in a mysterious garden laugh when the photographer stumbles. The camera shakes and the picture is taken at that exact moment.
When I let go
A child walks thru a garden and seems to vanish within the ever dominant nature that surrounds her.
DirectorJonathan Franco
CountryUnited KingdomEdition2006
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Who is Jonathan Franco?
Jonathan Franco was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1976. Later in life he acquires the Portuguese nationality. Lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal.
In 2004 he receives a Degree in Painting at the Faculty of Fine-Arts of the University of Lisbon. And in 2003 attended the Academy of Fine-Arts of Brera, Milan, Italy, as an Erasmus-Socrates Scholarship holder. Begins working with video in 2005.
Why filmmaking?
Since childhood I’m fascinated with film and its experimental possibilities. It’s not as limited as Painting or Drawing in execution and sensorial perception. The impact is inevitably enhanced. With very few seconds one can work with hundreds of pictures. Thousands more can be stored on a single tiny video cassette or hard disc drive and occupy no space at all. Experimentalism is greater. This was always my limitation with Painting: time and space. With film these factors can vary and are so much more malleable.
Your films are about…
My films are about sharing. We all experience the world around us differently. This richness of knowledge should be shared with everyone, everywhere.
Financing your movie?
I have to thank a friend of mine who bought the computer for me. It wouldn’t have been possible to make my videos without it. I have to work alone and very hard to make possible the production of my films. At the moment there is no one else contributing to my art projects. Here in Portugal it’s very difficult to get any kind of support, technical or financial. The emotional and psychological support is non existent. Some people even tell you to quit.
New Media; a challenge for film makers?
New Media is definitely a challenge. The circulation of information and ideas is unbelievable. The Internet is a fantastic way to join people all around the world. In a matter of seconds one can establish contact with another person on the other side of the planet. For an artist like me this is very much alluring because I can share my work with a wider audience. And other people can share there own experiences with me.
Which film related websites do you frequent?
Any website related to video art and personal artist pages. For example:
Www.post-videoart.com
Www.videoart.net
Individual film making or co-operation?
I like to have control over the entire process of the film making at the moment. My films are very personal and intimate. This requires a certain amount of solitude and privacy. Maybe I just feel that no one would be as committed as I would want them to be. I know that eventually I will have the need to work with other people, like sound artists, writers and composers for example.
Digital or classic?
Both techniques are interesting. I have a Hi8 and Mini-dv camcorders. I like to work with still photography as well. All of this goes into the computer and there I can manipulate sound, text and pictures with different kinds of programs.
View the works of Jonathan Franco!
I was selected for the Athens Video Art Festival this year. I think my name should be somewhere on their online program.
All other remarks
“I’ve read that past and future are a spiral, one coil containing the next and predicting its theme. Perhaps this is so; but my own life has seemed to me more a series of closed circles, rings that do not evolve with the freedom of a spiral: for me to get from one to the other has meant a leap, not a glide. What weakens me is the lull between, the wait before I know where to jump.”
Excerpt from “The grass Harp”, by Truman Capote
< overview
< Artists interviews
CountryUnited KingdomEdition2006
< overview
Interview
Jonathan Franco was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1976. Later in life he acquires the Portuguese nationality. Lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal.
In 2004 he receives a Degree in Painting at the Faculty of Fine-Arts of the University of Lisbon. And in 2003 attended the Academy of Fine-Arts of Brera, Milan, Italy, as an Erasmus-Socrates Scholarship holder. Begins working with video in 2005.
Why filmmaking?
Since childhood I’m fascinated with film and its experimental possibilities. It’s not as limited as Painting or Drawing in execution and sensorial perception. The impact is inevitably enhanced. With very few seconds one can work with hundreds of pictures. Thousands more can be stored on a single tiny video cassette or hard disc drive and occupy no space at all. Experimentalism is greater. This was always my limitation with Painting: time and space. With film these factors can vary and are so much more malleable.
Your films are about…
My films are about sharing. We all experience the world around us differently. This richness of knowledge should be shared with everyone, everywhere.
Financing your movie?
I have to thank a friend of mine who bought the computer for me. It wouldn’t have been possible to make my videos without it. I have to work alone and very hard to make possible the production of my films. At the moment there is no one else contributing to my art projects. Here in Portugal it’s very difficult to get any kind of support, technical or financial. The emotional and psychological support is non existent. Some people even tell you to quit.
New Media; a challenge for film makers?
New Media is definitely a challenge. The circulation of information and ideas is unbelievable. The Internet is a fantastic way to join people all around the world. In a matter of seconds one can establish contact with another person on the other side of the planet. For an artist like me this is very much alluring because I can share my work with a wider audience. And other people can share there own experiences with me.
Which film related websites do you frequent?
Any website related to video art and personal artist pages. For example:
Www.post-videoart.com
Www.videoart.net
Individual film making or co-operation?
I like to have control over the entire process of the film making at the moment. My films are very personal and intimate. This requires a certain amount of solitude and privacy. Maybe I just feel that no one would be as committed as I would want them to be. I know that eventually I will have the need to work with other people, like sound artists, writers and composers for example.
Digital or classic?
Both techniques are interesting. I have a Hi8 and Mini-dv camcorders. I like to work with still photography as well. All of this goes into the computer and there I can manipulate sound, text and pictures with different kinds of programs.
View the works of Jonathan Franco!
I was selected for the Athens Video Art Festival this year. I think my name should be somewhere on their online program.
All other remarks
“I’ve read that past and future are a spiral, one coil containing the next and predicting its theme. Perhaps this is so; but my own life has seemed to me more a series of closed circles, rings that do not evolve with the freedom of a spiral: for me to get from one to the other has meant a leap, not a glide. What weakens me is the lull between, the wait before I know where to jump.”
Excerpt from “The grass Harp”, by Truman Capote
< overview
