Event

G6 Presents: The Gleaners And I & Fake Fruit Factory

Returning to Suns to explore experimentations in documentary, local DC filmmaker Giovanna Chesler (aka G6) presents two films she cannot live without. In Agnes Vardas documentary The Gleaners and I, the renowned filmmaker roots around in the trash lovingly. Varda road-trips in the French countryside, capturing images and interviews with others who collect, live off of, and reimagine what some discard. In one glorious moment, Varda makes a mistake, and accidentally continues recording. The image of a lens cap dancing in front of the camera would be tossed by others. But here, Varda weaves the lens cap dance into the fabric of her film. She captures images with her hands in front of the lens and allows them to disappear. She embraces the mistakes and the ephemeral as part of the story and act of gleaning.

Following with the theme of hands, Fake Fruit Factory by the experimental documentarian and ethnographer Chick Strand, feels similarly lovingly crafted and alive. Like Varda, Strand gets close to the women in front of her lens. As explained by the title, Strand sets her documentary film in a factory in Mexico where women work, making paper maché fruit. Her 16mm asynchronous approach feels like we are listening in on intimate conversations, friendly banter, and gossip about the gringo boss while we closely watch their work at hand.