Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

ABOUT THE SERIES:

The American Cinematheque is honored to welcome critically acclaimed filmmakers Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor for a retrospective in the inaugural year of ‘This Is Not A Fiction.’ Hailing from Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab (SEL), the duo have crafted four groundbreaking, immersive and visually stunning films, LEVIATHAN, CANIBA, SOMNILOQUIES and DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA, that challenge traditional storytelling and cinematic conventions and promote the central innovative, aesthetic and ethnographic tenets of the experimental laboratory.

Trained as anthropologists, Véréna Paravel, originally from Switzerland, and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, from the United Kingdom, have merged the concepts of anthropology, documentation and experimental filmmaking and storytelling to develop intellectually engaging films that explore human relationships, the natural world, and the complexities of modern society.

Véréna Paravel (1971, Neuchâtel, Switzerland) and Lucien Castaing-Taylor (1968, Liverpool, England) are both anthropologists, artists and filmmakers. Castaing-Taylor is the founder and director of the Sensory Ethnography Lab (SEL) at Harvard University in the United States, an experimental laboratory for research into the relationship between anthropology and cinema, where they work together. Their work is held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and has been presented at Tate, Whitney Biennial, MoMA and documenta 14. Their award-winning films and videos have been screened in Berlin, Locarno, New York, Toronto, Venice and other film festivals.

Marking the beginning of this collaboration with the dizzying 2012 LEVIATHAN, one of their most notable works. Shot entirely on small, rugged cameras attached to fishermen, the mesmerizing documentary explores commercial fishing off the coast of New Bedford, Massachusetts and provides a visceral and immersive experience that plunges viewers into the chaotic and grueling world of deep-sea fishing from the perspective of the fish, the seagulls and the sea itself. Continue their innovative approach with SOMNILOQUIES, Paravel and Castaing-Taylor, blend documentary footage with dreamlike sequences and audio recordings to delve into the subconscious realms of sleep and language. In the terrifying CANIBA, the filmmakers delve into the unsettling and complex story of Issei Sagawa, a Japanese man who gained notoriety for killing and cannibalizing a woman in Paris in 1981. The film is a haunting exploration of desire, taboo, and the human psyche, challenging viewers to confront uncomfortable truths about human nature. Their most recent project, DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA, examines the relationship of the body with mental and physical labor, involving patients, doctors and nurses, but also penetrating the human body in Parisian hospitals.

Prior to LEVIATHAN, Paravel and Castaing-Taylor completed separate projects including Castaing-Taylor’s film with Ilisa Barbash, SWEETGRASS, a poetic and observational documentary that follows shepherds and their flock through the vast landscapes of Montana and Paravel’s collaboration with  J.P. Sniadecki, FOREIGN PARTS, a documentary focused on Willets Point, a marginalized and industrial area in Queens, New York City, exploring themes of urban decay, resilience, and human survival amidst challenging circumstances.

Through their films, Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor continue to push the boundaries of documentary filmmaking, offering audiences profound and thought-provoking experiences that blur the lines between reality and art. The groundbreaking emphasis on non-human perspectives creates a new realm of immersive and sensory exploration which has earned them international acclaim and recognition as pioneers in the world of contemporary cinema, documentary and non-fiction filmmaking.