Antigona - Kako si upamo!
Antigone - How dare we!
- Documentary-Fiction Film
- 86'
- 2020
- Slovenia
In the film, we see one planet, one human race, many countries, many politicians, and many ominous events – from Brexit, the refugee crises, the yellow vests revolt, Catalonian independence, the deconstruction of Europe, threats of global warming, and the World Economic Forum’s recipes for a better life. The world’s stage is a drama featuring Trump, Le Pen, Putin, Farrage, Greta, Macron, Salvini,
In the film, we see one planet, one human race, many countries, many politicians, and many ominous events – from Brexit, the refugee crises, the yellow vests revolt, Catalonian independence, the deconstruction of Europe, threats of global warming, and the World Economic Forum’s recipes for a better life. The world’s stage is a drama featuring Trump, Le Pen, Putin, Farrage, Greta, Macron, Salvini, Xi Jinping, Orban, and Merkel. They are all actors in the play. But what are their roles? Does the Antigone of today represent populists, anti-migrants, and fundamentalists, or those who would oppose them? A story of clashes in global politics unfolds as we search for answers and in the end try to answer what is perhaps the most important question: what should be the role of the chorus – namely us, the people. In other words: can we learn from history and change our position? Based on the motifs from The Triple Life of Antigone by Slavoj Žižek.
| Director | Jani Sever |
|---|---|
| Cast | Anja Novak, Primož Bezjak, Žan Perko |
| Awards | 4 awards and 1 nomination |
| Director's statement |
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The film takes a dynamic approach merging documentary and fiction. This makes Antigone – How Dare We! come across not as an essay, but as a portrait or at least an outline of some of the socio-political developments of the present age, a time full of paradox and hypocrisy. With a telling selection and clever editing of the archive material, the director compensates for the crudeness of the pay and the metafictional aspect, thus pointing to the challenges in interpreting Antigone in the light of the pressing issues, while exploring how Antigone and Creon can speak to us today. Sceptical and ironic, yet never farcical, Antigone – How Dare We! raises more questions than it gives answers, mostly managing to avoid the generalisation and simplification often pervading the artistic and cultural expression today.
Antigone – How Dare We! is a film that goes beyond the usual dividing line between fiction and documentary. With its formal and intellectual complexity, it makes a thought-provoking creation, grandiosely raising some of the issues that extend far beyond Slovenia’s borders. As this kind of ambition is rarely seen in the works produced in Slovenia, the jury presents the film with the Vesna Award for Best Documentary – and this should be merely the start of its successful international run.
In a hybrid form, the editing in Antigone – How Dare We! strikes a balance between chaos and order, making a complex three-dimensional narrative into a functional whole. Boldly combining shots, it defines the narrative arc of the work that manages despite its feature-length form and inner complexity to hold the viewer’s attention and make them question the present situation in society.
Primož Bezjak enters his role of the famed character of ancient Greek drama by being deliberately archaic, while coming across as modern and worldly. His hypnotic presence culminates in the scene where he stares ferociously through the camera, primarily at Antigone but also into the eyes and soul of the viewer, making them question their relationship with the world they live in.
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All financial information is obtained from official sources. I.e. producers or organizations which provided the financial support.
What is happening in the world today is chaos, and we are all trying to make sense of it. The film does that by putting politicians, decision-makers, influencers, and ordinary people in the roles of S
What is happening in the world today is chaos, and we are all trying to make sense of it. The film does that by putting politicians, decision-makers, influencers, and ordinary people in the roles of Slavoj Žižek’s version of the ancient Greek drama and telling the story of the world in which we live.