The Genesis of the film "Letter of March 10th"
Direction: Robert Cibis

Introduction
The approach

Introduction
by Barbara Letellier and Robert Cibis
With this project we tried to mix the commun and the personal between us. We wanted to extend our friendship to bring it out of the university space. To correspond seemed to be a good means to get to know each other better.
However, we wanted to reflect on the audiovisual expression in opposing the word writing to the film writing.

The approach
Our commun approach had three steps:

First step: private correspondence
We wrote daily letters to each other for a certain period.

Second step: Film writing
We tried to transpose this correspondence into a film. The film language should be peculiar and have no word or symbolic narration.

Each of us chooses one letter he received. He/she puts theses words into images. So the film is a lecture of the letter.
On the formal level we gave ourselves a strict framework. The letters shouldn’t exceed the A4 format (one page). The length of the film should correspond to the time it takes to read the letter. We had to follow the order of the letter’s contents.

Third step: The interpretorical voice-over
After editing, we show the film to a person, who doesn’t know us and didn’t read the letters, who, however, knows the experimentation settings. After several viewings, this person should write a letter on the base of the film, also not longer than one page. Only this letter will guarantee the result of this film.The film will be shown two times. The first time only with images and some noices, the second time the film will be shown while we hear the interpretorical voice-over.

One could repeat this experimentation, what means to transpose this interpretorical text again into images, to give these images again to another person to write a letter of it and so on…
Thus we can keap the objectivity of the images and words.

Fourth step: The disposition
The fundamental idea is to connect all elements during the screening. The projector ("incorporation of the filming") is in the middle of the room and shown the films in permanent repetition. The letters will be affixed to the wall and the spectator can move freely between the projected image and the letters. The regular spectator's attitude will be changed because he/she will be part of the experimentation. The film doesn't interest us as a film, but as a means of analysis.