Present Participle
2009 (from the series Present Perfect Tense)
DV PAL video converted from 8mm film, B/W & color, sound
24 min 12 sec
Footage provided by: Jan Edman | Voice Over by: Kevin Benn | Translation of Swedish Texts: Dea Svensson | Special Thanks to: Jan Edman, Ola Larsmo, Magnus Alkarp, Felix Briaud (Editorial Library of International Herald Tribune) & Björn Hedberg (Uppsala Nya Tidning)
Present Participle evolved from three reels of double-8 footage filmed by Ellis Edman [1899–1988], a Swedish journalist and editor-in-chief. Ellis bought his camera in 1935 to pursue filmmaking as his hobby. Alongside family vacations, he often filmed the same events he was reporting on for his paper. The three films obtained from Edman's son, Jan Edman and used in the project are the following:
1. Rågårdsvik, Sweden, summer of 1935: family vacation, the earliest film from Ellis Edman
2. Paris, July 19, 1938: Parisians welcoming the arrival of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II, Edman's first color film
3. Gamla Uppsala, Sweden, April 26, 1943: pro-Nazi demonstration, Edman's first and only film screened outside his home before his death. The film was confiscated by the Swedish secret service and returned to him later.In the film and through a single voice over, 3 personae give an account of a series of events in Sweden and abroad: the cameraman (Edman), the archivist (his son) and the researcher (the artist). Setting Sweden during the WWII as the main theme of these recounts, the film raises questions about documentary approaches and narrative constructions in order to embody the remote experience that is only accessible through Edman’s silent moving images.
© 2007-2011 Shirin Sabahi
