In the Middle Ages a misericorde was a weapon used to put a wounded knight out of his misery. As a theological term, it refers to forgiveness and compassion. In French it has been used as an invocation, notably in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot: “Christ have mercy on us!” That there may be no one listening (or arriving) remains a central anguish, felt in the depression, addiction and other disorders, that are normal responses to increasingly abnormal culture.
This film strikes the chord of even deeper anxiety, moving through a dreamscape of distorted mirrors, fluctuating boundaries, and uncertain identity. A man fractured in narcissistic multiplications, a woman overtaken by sorrow and grief, are lost both to themselves and to each other.
Yet there is a beauty to their shared ordeal, a nature pulsing with possibilities as near and intimate as they seem out of reach. It suggests the accord that comes with awareness, the passion that springs from despair.
COUNTRY : Slovenia, USA YEAR : 2024 DURATION : 9m DIRECTOR, CONCEPT, EDITOR : Nataša Prosenc Stearns PRODUCER : Nataša Prosenc Stearns MUSIC : Milko Lazar CAST : Natasha Maidoff, Alan Joseph Marx, Carmela Segal
Director Statement : The project is part of my EXPANDED MOVING IMAGE works. Through this practice I create interconnected visual language, exploring perception, memory, and the poetic possibilities of time and material, informed by my life across two continents and the negotiation of identity between cultural and geographic worlds.
Bio : Slovenian born visual artist and filmmaker Nataša Prosenc Stearns earned her BA at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. She moved to Los Angeles on a Fulbright Grant for her MFA at California Institute of the Arts. Her body of work ranges from single and multi-channel videos, video installations, short and feature films, video objects and print media. She is known for creative use of non-gallery spaces and large multi-channel installations. Her films Souvenir, (released by Cinema Epoch), The Trial of Socrates, (collaboration of 23 filmmakers), Hotel Diary, Živa and others explore innovative strategies in storytelling and visual expression.
Nataša’s films and artworks have been shown internationally. Her work was also featured in the contemporary opera CodeL.
Pebbles Underground is focused on showcasing and promoting experimental, avant-garde, underground, and no-to-low budget projects by artist-humans from all over the world. Absurd, uncanny, witty, humorous, slow-video – all are welcomed, and loved.
Pebbles Underground is an independent project not funded by any government or corporation, and we intend to keep it that way. Main source of funding is personal donations from humans organizing the project, who are artists themselves, and the main drive of the project is formed by the energy and involvement of the organizers, and the public.
