Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses a range of experimental methodologies and strategies I use in my film, Memory Objects, Memory Dialogues (26', 2011), to explore the complex, elusive, and fragmentary nature of individual and collective remembrance work in contemporary post-communist Romania.

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses a range of methodologies and strategies I use in my film, Memory Objects, Memory Dialogues (26', 2011), to explore the complex nature of remembrance work in contemporary post-communist Romania. This experimental film (directed in collaboration with visual artist Selena Kimball) attempts to evoke Benjaminian "thought images" of the past, through 16mm stop motion animation, split-screen projection, and visually interrupted, non-linear narratives. By juxtaposing a looping sequence of animated objects with a series of fragmented talking-heads interviews, it aims to destabilize the idea of collective memory as a coherent, single, over-arching account. Rather than documenting or illustrating people's memories, it evokes the partial, non-linear, elusive, and often-contradictory nature of the act of remembering in itself. In this split screen installation, individual and collective memories diverge and intersect, giving a poignant and humorous glimpse into how people are currently looking back at 45 years of communist rule in Romania.