OLIVIER ZABAT - MIGUEL ET LES MINES & 1/3 DES YEUX

Whether depicting the life of an international peace corps member or exploring the physical effect of weapons, the films of Olivier Zabat are incessant digressions into the lives of multiple characters who share painful experiences and terrible losses. Looking beyond the war zone, Zabat’s documentaries describe trajectories of psychological tension that stretch from the mountains of Kosovo to the peripheries of Paris and the mine fields of Africa. These works suggest that our predisposition for violence is not simply related to geography or ideological struggles, but is, instead, an inescapable condition of humanity.

Olivier Zabat’s films are skillfully positioned on the interfaces of global problems and personal destinies. They tend to consist of several “search modules”, juxtaposed like autonomous short films, each with their own title. Zabat relies on his own motivation, and as he searches he lets himself be guided from one story to the next by cross-references. Miguel et les mines (2002) and 1/3 des yeux (2004) together form a diptych, thematically centered around the dislocation of processes and the collapse of protocols. In 2004 1/3 des yeux was awarded as the best French documentary at the ‘International Documentary Festival’ in Marseille. A few months later Miguel et les mines was part of ‘Manifesta 5’ in San Sebastian.

Miguel et les mines (2002, 50’, color, French Spoken)
1/3 des yeux (2004, 70’, color, French Spoken)

The Olivier Zabat screenings are initiated by

The Ecran d’Art series is a monthly screening of artists’ film and/or video jointly organised by argos and Cinema Arenberg, in collaboration with La Cambre Academy