International Festival Signs of the Night - Bangkok


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18th International Festival Signs of the Night - Bangkok (6th Edition) - July 23-26, 2020


 




Thursday July 23th, 2020
6.30 pm

Alliance francaise
Bangkok



 

 

My Own Landscapes

Antoine Chapon
France / 2020 / 0:19:00

ASIA PREMIERE


Within the French and American armies, virtual reality prepares soldiers for their future battles just as it treats post-traumatic stress disorder after their baptism of fire. Antoine Chapon meets Cyril, former military video game designer and a veteran, who is dealing with the return to civilian life and loss of identity. long

Since 2013, the American army has been recruiting its future soldiers by organising video game competitions (such as America’s Army). Good players are offered a contract to fight on very real battlefields. They prepare for this by playing on virtual reality simulators, also used to “treat” post-traumatic stress disorder on their return from the front. Antoine Chapon met Cyril, who used to design natural environments for military video games and then went away to fight. Like the majority of his peers (or perhaps all?), he came back traumatised by the baptism of fire. His account is narrated by a female voiceover, while the veteran plays his own role, manipulating weapons and mouse, uniforms and virtual reality headset: because the hero of this story has created his own digital mental landscape, a utopian island, a natural serene universe, close to the Second Life aesthetic, where dozens of fellows (in both the real and the figurative) end up nonetheless, living, like him, exiled inside themselves, infinitely alone, together. – Emmanuel Chicon



 

Watching the Pain of Others

Chloé Galibert-Laîn
France / 2019 / 0:31:30

THAILAND PREMIERE


In this deeply personal video diary, a young researcher tries to make sense of her fascination for the film "The Pain of Others" by Penny Lane. A deep dive into the discomforting world of YouTube and online conspiracies, that challenges traditional notions of what documentary cinema is, or should be.



 

Monsieur Pigeon

Antonio Prata
Switzerland / 2019 / 0:56:21

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE


Giuseppe lives in his van in the heart of Paris and has long since stopped communicating with his fellow men. His time, his physical space as well as his mental space are dedicated to the birds that inhabit the cities, abused animals that the old man defends and feeds, suffering threats and attacks.