IN DIFFERENCE

IN DIFFERENCE picks up the yearning for liberation of BLISSED in its exploration of its homophynic meanings of apathy and divergence. A conversation between a young banker with an older homeless man traverses a downtown meridian surrounded by commercial buildings, that is populated by homeless people at night in real life. Drawing inspiration from Samuel Beckett and Dialogues of Plato, IN DIFFERENCE fuses Man with Myth and Metaphor to comment on the veneer and prejudices of contemporary society.

The film is not just an exploration on the symbolism of space (each sequence is calibrated to the landscape design of the meridian) but also of symbolism itself and its contemporary relevance, imbuing every aspect (naming of characters, film form , dialog etc.) with additional levels of meaning. Like its excluded stories and characters, the film inhabits a No Man’s Land between Hollywood and Art House tropes; straddling the nether boundary between narrative and experimental – a No Man’s Land with no heroes, no resolutions, no romanticized sentiments.

IN DIFFERENCE forms the third part of CONTENTUS, an experimental triptych that bookends STILLE STADT, taking its cue from the contrasting meanings of the word – content (French, Italian), to strain with exertion (Latin), to contain/hold together (Latin). Shot in long unbroken takes using only available light, the films comprising CONTENTUS eschews the contemporary propensity of coverage over character, style over substance, and construction of protagonists

CONTENTUS builds upon ideas on a cinema of attention (vs distraction) by eschewing the conventions of narrative grammar, rejecting the “wasted” shots in contemporary cinematography (redundant close ups, coverage angles, etc.) and utilizing music as a thematic counterpoint (vs. mood or editing device), it infuses cinema with Brechtian influences – in use of allegory, and where form itself is made conscious and interrogated (itself a metaphor for awakening the consciousness of people).

RUNNING TIME: 24:13 | COMPLETED: 02/15 | WRITER/DIRECTOR: Stephen Chen | CAST: ANDREW KINES, TREVOR KETCHESON | DISTRIBUTOR: CFMDC


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dissonance productions

Started by trans-discplinary art-ivist Stephen Chen to consolidate his recent work; as well as facilitate collaboration with others. Stephen’s oeuvre is often allegorical as well as simultaneously deconstruct and hybridize the very forms he works in. Disdaining academic and esoteric expressions, as well as institutional conventions and practices, Stephen explores complex ideas and issues immanent in his works through experiments in form and technique.

dissonance productions