Story of a Day

Historia de un día

  • Rosana Matecki
  • Venezuela
  • 2009
  • 89 min
  • World Premiere
  • Panorama
Story of a Day begins as an observation of the tranquil existence of farmers living somewhere in rural Latin America. The day begins. A woman touches up her eyebrows. A man shaves. The chickens are let out and goats are fed. Little or nothing is said, but the soundtrack gradually evolves into a subtly rich combination of environmental and added sounds. This observation takes on a more contemplative aspect when attention shifts to other characters at other locations. In this document of a single day, Rosana Matecki tells an abstract story about a random selection of human lives. Whereas Walter Ruttman used the dynamics of the daily cycle to create a portrait of Berlin in Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Grosstadt, Matecki takes the passing of the day as a medium for rites of passage. Nonetheless, she does not resort to the cliché of sunrise and sunset as symbols of birth and death. In Story of a Day, death comes in the morning, while elsewhere a wedding is being prepared. In meticulously framed shots, she shows people coming together for collective experiences: the ritual slaughter of a goat; the burial of a loved one; a young woman's dance ritual apparently intended to charm a man; and, in the evening, a birthday party at which at least one guest has more alcohol than is good for him.

Credits

  • 89 min
  • color
  • video
  • Spoken languages: Spanish
Director
Rosana Matecki
Production
Rosana Matecki for Producciones Kiiskakuna
Cinematography
John Márquez, Emil Guevara
Editing
Lucas Villegas
Sound
Cecilia Nava

IDFA history

2009
World Premiere
Panorama
2009
Supported with €14600 for Classic: Production & postproduction

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IDFA history

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