Patrick Bokanowski

A surreal, nightmarish collection of imagery with no discernible plot.

A housewife is preparing a duck à l'orange in her kitchen. But the reluctant bird tries to escape from her but the woman manages to recaptures it and plucks it savagely. Once the duck is put in the oven, an alligator unexpectedly appears in the kitchen, threatening the cook. She tries to escape from it first, then pursues it and finally sits down at the table with it. Meanwhile, the duck succeeds in opening the the door of the oven and flies away through the open window. (imdb)

The film is composed of mundane, everyday scenes of recreation and leisure on an idyllic, sunny day at a park that overlooks a lake - rowing a boat, playing a game of volleyball, rollerskating, bicycling, reading a newspaper, sunbathing, riding on horseback, or strolling on the promenade - shot through optical distortions to create fractured and knotted images that resemble embellished, gothic fairytale illustrations or appear to resolve into morphing, geometric patterns of fluid motion. (imdb)

Nightmarish experimental short.

Memories shattered in space. Real images transformed by digital special effects. (BFI Film & TV Database)

A mix of live-action and animation sequences explore 'the madness of everyday gestures'. (BFI Film & TV Database)

Reworked and colored images of people playing at the seashore. (imdb)

Experimental short film.

Experimental short film.

Without any apparent coherence or story, this oneiric trip essentially evokes the battle between light and darkness. An incredible phantasmagoria of colours and movement opens up new worlds. If ever a filmmaker could be compared to an alchemist, it is this tireless inventor of new imaging techniques. (Cineuropa)

Patrick Bokanowski's intimate portrait of Henri Dimier at work focuses as much attention on the materials as on the painter himself. Only fitting, as Dimier repeatedly insists that the artist's vocation is to let the paper "be aware of itself" and takes obvious pleasure showing the proper way to sharpen a pencil. Dimier demonstrates several playful exercises to cultivate an all-important sense of spontaneity while he approaches teaching as another opportunity for improvisation. (imdb)

Colette Aboulker Muscat has taught Waking Dream for the past forty years in Jerusalem. To each person who comes for a consultation, she offers a short story leading to a waking dream, equal in intensity to a night dream. In this rare footage, award winning director, Patrick Bokanowski, films Colette giving a class in – what she considered – the 10 essential imagery exercises for healing. (re-voir.com)

Choreography of an imaginary journey. (imdb)

A short animated film by Patrick Bokanowski.