Mariya GODOVANNAYA
Мария ГОДОВАННАЯ
Maria GODOVANNAIA
Russia, 2008, 6mn 
Colour, documentary
S Feniksom
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С Фениксом

 

 Along With the Phoenix

 Avec le Phoenix

 
Directed by : Mariya GODOVANNAYA (Мария ГОДОВАННАЯ)
Produced by : Mariya GODOVANNAYA (Мария ГОДОВАННАЯ)
 

Plot synopsis
As Artist in Residence in WORM.filmwerkplaats, Masha Godovannaya improvises freely on the myth surrounding the Phoenix, the bird that burns up every five centuries and then arises from the ashes renewed. She processed the film by hand and concentrated on the moment when the fire consumes the bird
 

commentaries
 
The film is conceived as a free cinematic improvisation vaguely based on the myth of the phoenix. According to the myth, after a certain number of centuries the bird prepares a pyre for herself from twigs of fragrant trees, lights a fire and is consumed by it. The following day, in the ashes a small worm is found that is transmuted into a small bird on the next day, and on the third the bird has the form of the phoenix again. The film concentrates on the moment the fire consumes the bird. The images picture the phoenix’ point-of-view: we do not see the actual bird but watch mythological flames transforming the phoenix into its mystical ashes from which the new being is born.
Source : www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com

Selected in the following festivals or events :
- Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh (United Kingdom), 2009
- Rotterdam International Film Festival, Rotterdam (Netherlands), 2008