Best Experimental 2017 Winner

Such Gracious Smiles

Such gracious smiles is an 18-minute sequence shot. The smile distinguishes man from animals. Its execution requires a multitude of muscles that can mean anything and everything: The empathetic, seductive, victorious , mocking, sadistic smile .... A smile to coax, a smile as a weapon of mass destruction but also as a wound in the face. This marks the meeting of an awkward actress, a condescending director, three bossy shrinks who enjoy telling stories that end badly, a lecturer, an assistant with strange manners and a trio of singers on wheels accompanied by a children’s choir. This merry bunch create stories that intertwine and, through di erent narrative paths and performative actions, demonstrate the ambiguity of the smile. All the scenes take place in a single space that is constantly modulated by the changing set design. We watch as the sets shift, as layers are shrugged o liitle by little until the space becomes entirely empty.