BOTH EARS TO THE GROUND
Video HD, 29 min, 2021
Direction and cinematography: Naïmé PerretteProduced by Iliade & Films: Manon Messiant and Juliette Viaux PeccateProject coordination and Russian production: Anna Litovskikh, Kristina Gorlanova, Artyom AntipinMain cast: Olga Soloveva, Elena Travnikova, Elena Nizhegorodova, Kirill Kobyakov, Luybov Bushueva, Victor Kryvokorytov, Nicolay NicolayevSound recording and Russian - English interpreter: Anna LitovskikhOriginal soundtrack: Loren MartinEditing: Ludovic FoucherSound editing: Thibaut Sichet et Thimofey ShestakovSound mix: Maxime RoyTranslation: Arina Pshenichnaya, Anna Litovkikh et Ksenia Redkova
This project has been initiated in the framework of the Artist-in-Residence program of the 5th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, "Objects in Mirror are Closer than they Appear", curated by Kristina Gorlanova, Anna Litovskikh and Artyom Antipin.
A first version of the film (Both Ears On The Ground, 2019) has been shown at the 5th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art in Ekateringburg, Russia.Later on, the film has been largely reshaped (new editing, new music, etc.), to give birth to Both Ears To The Ground (2021), presented by the Paris based film production company Iliade & Films.
The city of Berezniki, Ural, was built on salt mines, and became infamous because of the sinkholes they caused. “Both Ears on the Ground” is a collection of voices revolving around these events. It displays a series of encounters in this city where industry is intermingled with the local culture. Sinkholes are a combination of human and natural processes, a rapid breaking point of slow movements happening out of sight, a conflict between spectacular occurrences and invisible dynamics. That very invisibility triggers the question of belief and trust: every person must decide where to place their faith. Sinkholes are a source of sensational images for journalists, but a banal fact for Berezeniki citizens going about their daily life, leaving the image of their "sinking town" to distant eyes.
Review by Kim West on e-flux CriticismReview by Alice Godwin on e-flux Criticism
