Phantoms Victorious Tour
05. May 2004
The first feature film by the writer, director and, above all, video artist of extraordinary talent Ema Kugler reaps success in Europe and America. On 23 April it was shown at the
Worldfest Houston festival, where it received the Gold Remi Award, which is the highest award for films from the Film & VideoArt category.
The Worldfest Houston festival took place for the 37th year in a row; its pride stems mostly from the fact that it is the only film festival in North America, whose management consists of filmmakers. Only four days later, on 27 April, the film was shown at the New York International Film and Video Festival (NYIIFVF), which is one of the biggest festivals of this kind in the world. NYIIFVF took place for the 11th year in a row, and this year as many as 300 films altogether were shown there in ten days.
The director of the Moondance festival, Elizabeth English, is also enthusiastic about Phantom. The film is going to be shown on 29 May in the Narrative Film in the Spirit of Moondance category. Moondance is known as the American Cannes and it takes place every year in the state of Colorado.
The film also won a special place in Europe at the European Media Art Festival (EMAF), which took place between 21 and 25 April in Osnabrück. From 1100 registered works from more than 50 countries the committee, consisting of five members, chose 80 works that are to be presented at the festival. Phantom qualified for a special place at EMAF, which it shares with only one other film: the American-Japanese co-production Suicide. This place is intended for longer films, which will get more attention this year than in the previous years; Phantom is 90 minutes long.
Ema Kugler, the maker of Phantom, about the film:
Phantom is a film about death. But the question of this eternal topic is not asked in the way that it is customary in art... It is not that overwhelming question... "Who am I?" Instead it is...
"Was I ever really there... In life?
Have I ever really lived? Or wasn't everything just a mirage, an illusion of fake existence? Is it even possible to die?
How to escape, break free of these chains of unbearable repetitions, being flesh and being soul... over and over again!
Is it even possible to see others as they are?
Are they really nothing but a construct of our expectations, thoughts; illusion of what everyone needs so badly... Something that helps them bind their own dissolved existence to the shaky ground, called reality.
Something that redeems us from the abyss... That black hole, which devours everything... The bottomless darkness of our subconscious." You can see Phantom in the art cinema KINODVOR, Kolodvorska 13, Ljubljana, www.kinodvor.si.
Phantom is a film about death. But the question of this eternal topic is not asked in the way that it is customary in art... It is not that overwhelming question... "Who am I?" Instead it is...
"Was I ever really there... In life?
Have I ever really lived? Or wasn't everything just a mirage, an illusion of fake existence? Is it even possible to die?
How to escape, break free of these chains of unbearable repetitions, being flesh and being soul... over and over again!
Is it even possible to see others as they are?
Are they really nothing but a construct of our expectations, thoughts; illusion of what everyone needs so badly... Something that helps them bind their own dissolved existence to the shaky ground, called reality.
Something that redeems us from the abyss... That black hole, which devours everything... The bottomless darkness of our subconscious." You can see Phantom in the art cinema KINODVOR, Kolodvorska 13, Ljubljana, www.kinodvor.si.