A screening of two films selected by Maja Bekan dealing with the subject of inner violence: Meditation on Violence (Maya Deren, 1948) and the film La Ceremonie (Claude Chabrol, 1995).

Meditation on Violence
Release: 1948
Director: Maya Deren
Runtime: 12 min.

La Cérémonie
Release: 1995
Director: Claude Chabrol
Runtime: 112 min.

Runtime total programme: 124 min.

Sophie (Sandrine Bonnaire), an isolated and quiet maid, tries to keep her illiteracy a secret from the upper class Lelievre family she works for. In an attempt to conceal her illiteracy from everyone, she becomes increasingly withdrawn from her employers, and the deception and lie’s compound. Sophie becomes friends with the rebellious post office employee, Jeanne (Isabelle Huppert) who encourages her to stand up against her bourgeois employers and soon their relationship grows unnaturally close. Slowly Sophie’s life begins to spiral towards violence. La Cérémonie is a psychological thriller that explores the themes of isolation and loneliness with a dark undertone. Claude Chabrol presents an ambiguous view of culture and class conflict in this film, which he jokingly called “the last Marxist film”.

Before the screening of La Cérémonie, Maja Bekan will show the short film Meditation on Violence by Maya Deren (1948). In Meditation on Violence, Deren’s camera is motivated by the movement of the performer Chao Li Chi. Through the performance of a ritual, Li Chi tries to exorcise violence through a series of meditational dance movements.

Bekan’s interest lays in the performing power of authority and alienation, and the display of rituals; themes that are questioned by both of the films.