Sound Before Picture

This video essay is inspired by Walter Ruttmann's 1930 work 'Weekend'. Ruttmann called the film Weekend a "blind film" and noted that it "uses sound as an end in itself". "In order to consider Weekend as a film," explains theorist Michel Chion, "it must be associated with a frame, even an empty one." The author of this essay is concerned with these empty frames, which are largely devoid of meaningful images, but are sonically and narratively rich. The sound seems to precede the picture.

Screened at the Marienbad International Film Festival, 15th July 2023