15 Attempts

Fifteen attempts to create a misunderstanding, to make a film, to misunderstand an artist and to look at the world with new eyes. Suchan Kinoshita is a Dutch artist with German-Japanese roots. She is fascinated by not understanding something and by letting go of expectations. She sais: "Understanding something is overrated, we had better take not understanding as a starting point to have a relationship with the things around us." Bearing this attitude in mind, filmmaker Aliona van der Horst tries 15 times to make this film, in which she attempts to get closer to the artist’s way of thinking and looking. Seemingly foolish undertakings – looking for letters in the streets or making thirty rounds around a roundabout – lead to strange situations and encounters. During these humorous ventures, the Van der Horst and her soundman become part of their protagonist's explorations, as "concrete poetry is that which is right in front of you." Each attempt gets closer to the core of Kinoshita’s work: that the confusion these attempts lead to allows room for a surprising new view on existence.