Bob Moore
Dr. h.c. David Boadella
Sally Potter
Dr. phil. Silvia Specht Boadella
Dr. phil. Asta Fink
Prof. Dr. Fritz-Albert Popp
Dr. phil. Ole Vedfelt

Framing the invisible: The medium of film as a form of expression for inner existential and transformation states

Cinema synthesises many art forms into one. The seductive visible and audible world that is created (the “body” of the film) means that it often confusingly resembles material reality. But cinema's secret strength lies in its ability to describe the secret machinery of the mind, and by evoking a feeling of recognition of the inner self large as life on the screen, it may perhaps even have the power to remind us that we have a soul.

“Orlando” was a meditation on impermanence and immortality, via the narrative of someone who lives for four hundred years through innumerable personal and political changes.

“The Tango Lesson” took as its starting point the idea that social dancing is essentially a philosophical enquiry into the nature of the eternal other, and that the tango itself is, at its heart, a meditation for two.

“The Man Who Cried” a story about loss and survival, is set in the years leading up to the 2nd World War. We all live in the long shadow cast by the events of this time. There is much to cry about.

Using examples from this trilogy of films, Sally Potter will analyse the ways in which she has tried to use cinema to conjure elusive inner states of being and experience. The invisible is framed.
 

Profile

Sally Potter started making experimental short films when she was a teenager. She then was trained as a dancer and choreographer before founding her own company, The Limited Dance Company. She went on to become a performance artist and theatre director, and then a lyricist and singer, touring Europe and North America with several music groups, including FIG and “Oh Moscow” before returning to cinema as a writer/director.

Her films:

• Thriller (1979) – a critical re-working of Puccini’s opera “La Bohème”
• The Gold Diggers (1983) – an alchemical tale starring Julie Christie
• The London Story (1986) – a short musical comedy
• Tears, Laughter, Fears And Rage (1986) – a television series about emotions
• I Am an Ox, I Am A Horse, I Am A Man, I Am A Woman (1988) – a documentary about women in Soviet cinema
• Orlando (1992) – was adapted from Virginia Woolf’s classic novel. In addition to two Academy Award nominations, it has received more than 25 international awards
• The Tango Lesson (1997) – which Sally performed in as well as writing the script, won the “Ombú de Oro” for Best Film at Mar del Plata Festival, Argentina
• The Man Who Cried (2000) – starring Johnny Depp, Cate Blanchett, Christina Ricci and John Turturro. Currently showing in over 30 countries (2001).

Sally Potter has attended meditation courses taught by Bob Moore since 1984, and also has extensive experience of re-evaluation counselling.