du soleil, que ça existe

Charlotte Clermont / Canada / 2025 / European Premiere / 9 min.

synopsis

A deferred desire that warms but does not burn permeates the slow pace of this tender confession in 16 mm format. A poetic dialogue in two languages, recited by a single voice, forms another layer of the image. Inspired by Marguerite Duras' novella The Malady of Death, the film transforms thoughts of the sun, the body, love, and finitude into the rhythmic concealment and revelation of a landscape in which details appear only thanks to the flickering of solarization—a technique that involves a brief flash of light during film development.

“A big dark opening admits the sound of the sea – always the same black rectangle, never any lighter. But the sound of the sea does vary in volume.” — Marguerite Duras, The Malady of Death

biography

Canadian artist Charlotte Clermont (b. 1991) earned her master's degree in time and space arts at Uniarts in Helsinki; her graduation project was the installation du soleil, que ça existe (2024). She works with analogue media and found footage, exploring the chemical sensitivity of film stock through various interventions and leaving room for chance. Her work has been shown at a number of international festivals, including the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, where she presented Lucina Annulata in 2021.