A.M./P.M.

There is no visible human presence in ’a.m./p.m’. Photos of cosmopolitan city landscapes are systematically scanned along with display views of office blocks, flats, dark corners, illuminated windows and skyscrapers. On the soundtrack one can hear a woman’s voice, talking about herself and the world, about images of today, about a journey. Her monologue is a fictionalised rendering of Asselberghs’ impressions during a stay in Palestine. He consciously chose for the film to show the explosive and mediatised situation in the region by taking an absolutely minimalist audiovisual approach. The distance which Asselberghs creates by using a detached female voice instead of his own, coupled with such a deviation from the run-of-the-mill documentary style, produces a complex approach to his feelings and ideas surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The soundtrack is by David Shea, the voice-over by visual artist Claude Wampler and the photography by Els Opsomer. A longer version of the voice-over text is available in the book ’Time Suspended’ by Herman Asselberghs, Els Opsomer and Pieter van Bogaert (published by Square vzw, 2004).