Videograms of a Revolution

Georges Didi-Huberman and Jeu de Paume have put together a programme of films and discussions to amplify the themes of the exhibition “Soulèvements.” It includes Videograms of a Revolution (Vidéogrammes d’une révolution), a film by Harun Farocki and Andrei Ujica, presented by film historian Christa Blümlinger.

Of all the dictatorships in the then Eastern Bloc, the only one to be brought down amidst bloodshed and street fighting was that of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu. Here, at last, was a revolution that matched our image of such an event. And indeed, the image was at the centre of subsequent debates over what happened. The battle for power was followed live, from the Romanian TV studios. The purported massacre at Timisoara – which the press all too readily took at face value – was what finally condemned the regime. When the manipulation behind this staged event was discovered, media professionals and members of the public were forced to reconsider the role of the media in such situations. That is what Harun Farocki and Andrei Ujica did by returning to the site of these events to explore the role of the image in modern society – both its power and its limits. This work confronts us with the visual manifestations of history. What images of such an event will future generations remember? This work questions the traces left by history and the way we interpret and reactivate them.

Videograms of a Revolution by Harun Farocki and Andrei Ujica (Germany, 1992, 106’). Screening presented by Christa Blümlinger, Tuesday 29 November at 6 pm. On ‘Mardis Jeunes’ Tuesdays, free for students and visitors under 26.
Admission: 3 euros or free with exhibition ticket (only on the same day).
Information: infoauditorium@jeudepaume.org