Christian Boustani, Portugal, 199835mm, 2D and 3D computer animation / DVD, colour, stereo sound, 10:00 mins
Courtesy: the artist and Heure Exquise!, Paris
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| A Viagem (The Voyage) Christian Boustani. Image © Christian Boustani / Alain Escalle / Portuguese Pavilion Expo '98 / D& D Audiovisuais |
In 1543 a Portuguese vessel reaches Japan for the first time. This is the beginning of an expansion toward the Far East, the opening of new commercial routes and a period of intense cultural exchange.
The finely gilded panels faithfully restore the image of the encounter, and the amazed, amused and sometimes anxious eye of those long-nosed western people, with their strange customs, their rare animals and unknown objects, some of which (guns, for instance) were to change the course of their history.
The work was commissioned by the Portuguese government for the host country's Pavilion at Expo '98, the World's Fair staged in Lisbon.
Christian Boustani, b. 1959, Beirut, Lebanon For the past ten years, writer and director Christian Boustani has been exploring the relationship between the real and the imagined through new media technologies. Boustani uses high-end animation techniques to achieve sublime, painterly results.
The artist came to international prominence with
Siena (1992), the first in his
Les Cités Antérieures (Cities of the Past) trilogy; based on connections between history, painting, architecture, and cultural life in three Renaissance cities. Seen for the most part on television (Canal+, la Cinquième, BBC, RTBF, RTL, BRT, RTP, TV5), his works have been awarded numerous prizes in international film and media art festivals.
Boustani lives and works in Paris, where he teaches film directing at the Sorbonne.
Commissioned by the Portuguese Government for the Portuguese Pavilion, Expo '98.
Production: D&D Audiovisuais/Trix
Editing: Franck Magnant
Image processing: Alain Escalle
Original music: Manuel Faria
