Jean-Claude Taki first came to l’Alternativa in 2004. It was to present his debut feature film, Aurora / Number 9, a story of brief encounters in which fiction and reality blend in a continuous stream of solitude. Following the projection at l’Alternativa the film screened in Medellín as part of a series organised by the Festival and Pulpmovies to exhibit independent film in Colombia. 2 years later Taki returned to l’Alternativa, but this time with a very different project. An 8-minute film La martienne, suggestive and poetic, shot on a mobile phone. He told me that this change of direction, duration and format was a natural and necessary reaction for someone who wanted to create and experiment continuously and not be hindered by budgets that took years to fall into place. In 2007 he was back at l’Alternativa with Le cahier froid (again shot on a mobile phone but this time 26-minutes long). The film won the Short film Award at the Festival, as well as the main prize at the Pocket Film Festival in Paris. In 2008 his next film, Si tu ignores le nom des choses, was also screened in competition. Now Taki has recently finished his second feature film (his first mobile feature) Sotchi 255, which explores the disappearance of a woman after a storm in Sochi, the Russian city on the Black Sea. The film will premiere at FIDMarseille in July, but if you’re in Paris in June you can catch a special screening at the Forum des Images, as well as a full retropsective of his films (19th June), and his new short Greek Salad, at the Festival Côté Court (13th June).
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