1. Home
  2. Artistic creation
  3. Cinema
  4. Short films
  5. Just a tree

Just a tree

A film by Benoît Labourdette - text by Sonia Leplat (1’28s, 2021).
28 March 2021. Published by Benoît Labourdette.
  1 min
 |  Download in PDF

Thinking, overthinking...

I think better through the branches.
Barely exposed, I see the immensity of the sky. I feel the silence too and the weight of what is missing.
And you are not cold? I am cold in winter.
I look for your branch that caresses mine.
Oh no it is not possible, I take my distance, I observe the shyness.
You put my head upside down in the immensity of the blue.

Sonia Leplat

Download
All the films in « Short films »
Clément Thomas Joseph Marianne Philippe
Clément Thomas Joseph Marianne Philippe

Un film de Benoît Labourdette (11’17s, 2013).

Dans la vie, les choses les plus importantes, qu’elles soient heureuses ou dramatiques, arrivent souvent par accident. L’histoire d’un homme, pas jeune, pris dans la spirale de la répétition (…)
Straw fire
Straw fire

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’27s, 2019).

Dead animals are helplessly witnessing human violence.
City lights
City lights

Un film de Benoît Labourdette (4’00s, 2023).

Nos deux yeux voient gauche-droite avec un écart, avant-après avec la mémoire, devant-derrière avec leur mobilité ; ils créent le relief et la profondeur.
The event
The event

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’38s, 2021).

Observe what is going on behind the eternal appearances.
Around
Around

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’33s, 2013).

In Vitrolles, in the south of France, a rocky peak overlooking the city. It is found scattered clothes and a mobile phone, in which there was a movie and a text. The work of a madman, it seems, (…)
I parked my scooter
I parked my scooter

A film by Benoît Labourdette (1’38s, 2003).

“I parked my scooter, I lost my scooter. If someone found it, he can bring it to me.” Small musical and visual variation humorous.
Pascal's flowers
Pascal’s flowers

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’18s, 2011).

Invent a tale. Ground the story into reality. Why does the shape of the tale in 2011 ? Probably to make again metaphor, universal. A simple love story.
Barcelona hotel
Barcelona hotel

A film by Benoît Labourdette (4’44s, 2012).

Autofiction on adultery.
Break
Break

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’36, 2012).

“Break”, this time of the working day in which humans are placed in a non-productive state finally.
Vire, next stop
Vire, next stop

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’48s, 2013).

One day a train. Chopped audiovisual form, from which emerge childhood memories, confrontation with the self-forgetfulness.
Two hands
Two hands

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’07s, 2023).

How to accompany the one who is no longer there?
Blue eyes
Blue eyes

A film by Benoît Labourdette (4’47s, 2016).

Facing our child, real or imagined.
Remembering Alice
Remembering Alice

A film by Benoît Labourdette (6’40s, 2017). With Marion Geerebaert.

A mother returns in the footsteps of her missing daughter. The work of mourning, like the work of birth, is a work of unconditional love.
Far
Far

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’43s, 2013).

“Far, far away in my thoughts, at the end of the screen of my eyes printed with electronic images.”
Cold fire at the castle
Cold fire at the castle

A film by Benoît Labourdette (1’17s, 2023).

At times, past, present, fiction and reality are intertwined. The present moment becomes a tale.
Oh night
Oh night

A film by Benoît Labourdette (1’29s, 2022).

A postcard seems to come to life, and write its own legend.
Fragile and forgotten silhouettes
Fragile and forgotten silhouettes

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’15s, 2023).

Do we remember these living figures, near or far, multiple, these moments of intense life? As in a painting by Bruegel the Elder, there is no whole, but a multitude of small details juxtaposed.
Inside time
Inside time

Film by Benoît Labourdette (3’34 s, 2016).

Reading of the last paragraphs of “’Remembrance of Things Past” by Marcel Proust. Links between literature, painting and movement.
Parking dance #100
Parking dance #100

A film by Sandra Abouav and Benoît Labourdette (3’27s, 2020).

Flying danced deliriums sung. A choreography between a drone and dancers, for the hundredth and last opus of Sandra Abouav’s “Parking Dance” series (2017-2020). Presentation by Sandra AbouavIt (…)
Myopia
Myopia

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’33s, 2021).

Myopia can be triggered by trauma. We are left with poetry.
At the station
At the station

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’41s, 2016).

The intimate perception of the inner voices of passing humans, which leads to a choice of life.
Indifference
Indifference

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’53s, 2005).

Rediscover the world, between its real and imaginary dimensions, with a new shooting tool.
Sleeping in Paris
Sleeping in Paris

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’41s, 2023).

Finding meaning in life, despite its most terrible tragedies
Bell tower
Bell tower

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’26s, 2013).

On the way to autofiction, a conversation between a father and his son, played by the same voice.
Already the architecture
Already the architecture

A film by Benoît Labourdette (4’36s, 2018).

Contemplative quest for meaning in an abandoned summer camp.
Back to childhood
Back to childhood

A film by Benoîtenoît Labourdette (2’10s, 2023).

Life was a gift.
No entry
No entry

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’58s, 2013).

Body, space and timeA body in the city at night. The body of the eye. The look of the body. The experience of coming and going, which is the breath of a city. Is the time in the city, is a (…)
End of the silent movie
End of the silent movie

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’31s, 2021).

At times, time and space are reversed.
Perpetual motion
Perpetual motion

A film by Benoît Labourdette (1’22s, 1998).

Ode to childbirth by a young adult.
Metro meditation
Metro meditation

A film by Benoît Labourdette (7’, 2017).

To be there without being there, not to be there by being there. To be above all within oneself. Meditate. In the subway.
Opening soon
Opening soon

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’34s, 2013).

The speech of a father to his son for the opening of their next clothing store. Capitalism, sexism...
Here lived filmmaker Boris Lehman
Here lived filmmaker Boris Lehman

A film by Benoît Labourdette (8’50s, 2013).

The visit of an empty Paris apartment, where several people lived successively. Memory fumes artists Sophie Calle and Boris Lehman.
News from father
News from father

A movie by Benoît Labourdette (2’19s, 2014).

Life on a blank screen...
Are you calling for help?
Are you calling for help?

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’01s, 2022).

Step by step, the quest for life, meeting a tragic fate.
That light
That light

A flm by Benoît Labourdette (1’36s, 2022).

One night, as if nothing had happened.
In their absence
In their absence

A film by Benoît Labourdette (1’43s, 2019).

There are times when you have the feeling, if not the certainty, that you’ve missed the point.
Spectra
Spectra

A film by Benoît Labourdette, in collaboration with Louise Moaty (3’59s, 2014).

Charlotte Delbo’s words emanate from human traces of people who were living there a few hours earlier.
Imaginary territory
Imaginary territory

Artwork digital video. Benoît Labourdette (5’51s, 2014).

Abstract shapes, children color from the sky.
Made in China
Made in China

Un film de Benoît Labourdette (6’07s, 2017).

Des animaux en plastique nous parlent.
First
First

A film by Benoît Labourdette (6’29s, 2013).

A former disused hotel on the Place du Capitole in Toulouse is the scene of an inner musical divagation.
Trio
Trio

Film expérimental de Benoît Labourdette (7’26s, 2015). Avec Marta Zielinska et Senghte Vanh Bouapha.

Un couple de « vivants-fantômes » émane des murs, des sols, des fenêtres, d’un ancien appartement.
Each morning
Each morning

A film by Benoît Labourdette (5’44s, 2013).

Charles, 37-year old boy who lost his mother a year ago, sometimes perceive the world in a distorted way, multiplied, time and space losing their reality. A meeting will change his life.
Relic
Relic

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’49s, 2024).

How can we give a place in our Life to those who have left?
Choir
Choir

A film by Benoît Labourdette (4’10s, 2012).

Music softens morals.
The line
The line

A film by Benoît Labourdette (4’06s, 2020).

Light is what gives existence.
Coco
Coco

Un film de Benoît Labourdette (2’15s, 2020).

Une noix de coco partage ses problèmes d’image : réussira-t-elle a prendre confiance en ses qualités ?
Accident
Accident

Un film de Benoît Labourdette (1’57s, 2018).

« Accident sur une dune du désert blanc. Il ne reste que des rides. »
Next train
Next train

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’51s, 2024).

Time stands still. And then life returns. Pain is life. Sweetness is life. Replications. Messages. Double helix. Heal. ExtensionsWhen we live through borderline or traumatic experiences, we may (…)
The red house
The red house

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’17s, 2020).

Back to the place that resources us.
Trees and a woman
Trees and a woman

A film by Françoise Simpère and Benoît Labourdette (6’38s, 2020).

A walk, an intimate dialogue with oneself and with nature, a path to find oneself, to be in the world. A film born from a dialogue between images and text.
H building
H building

A film by Benoît Labourdette (7’03s, 2012).

The metaphor for the journey of life of a human being through a visual journey “kaleidoscopic” in a building.
Reserved for nurses
Reserved for nurses

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’19s, 2011).

The trace, in the places, of the stories and dramas that took place there. A reserved parking space, another reserved parking space, empty at the moment we look at them, but which have seen so (…)
Madeleine
Madeleine

Un film de Benoît Labourdette (3’23s, 2010).

Nostalgie musicale dans le métro à Toronto.
A seated man
A seated man

A film by Benoît Labourdette (7’37s, 2022).

The work of mourning, such a slow movement of life.
Jesus
Jesus

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’48s, 2016). With the voice of Bénédicte Loyen.

In Western society, the written language was invented again to name God. Our words carry weight of the religious, in spite of us. Seek to understand ...
Brahim's backpack
Brahim’s backpack

A film by Benoît Labourdette (5’04s, 2016).

A rat race, to mourn the departure of the beloved.
An adult tree
An adult tree

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’19s, 2022).

If I had known, if I could have, and yet I was always there.
What do you fear?
What do you fear?

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’12s, 2022).

Make a list of your fears, to maybe trigger something.
Step by step
Step by step

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’21s, 2021).

One foot in front of the other, but where to?
The book
The book

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’27s, 2018).

Gather around a book, gather yourself.
Door
Door

A film by Benoît Labourdette (1’54s, 2018).

Listening at the doors. A deeper, poetic and contemplative exercise than one might imagine at first glance.
Uprooted
Uprooted

A film by Benoît Labourdette (4’01s, 2021).

To see oneself in front of the roots of a tree.
The fear
The fear

A film by Benoît Labourdette (9’28s, 2016).

Sensitive sharing of therapeutic indications to fight against fear, this kind of fear present inside of each.
Going to the sea?
Going to the sea?

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’35s, 2022).

Not yet understanding the disappearance of his child. Looking for him. Not finding him. Try to change the perspective.
Dead leaf
Dead leaf

A film by Benoît Labourdette (8’33s, 2012).

A little piece of nature in the middle of the city is a microcosm of nature impulses of life. Love, the mix of bodies, dramas, reunion, always. Crosses of stories on feelings and bodies.
The kiss 1234567
The kiss 1234567

A film by Benoît Labourdette (12’46s, 2013).

How to share the silent screams, behind families with smooth histories ?
Pencil camera
Pencil camera

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’11s, 2005).

One of the first movies shot with mobile phone.
Men and doll
Men and doll

A film by Benoît Labourdette (4’58s, 2014).

Bordeaux. Saint-Michel square with roadworks. Night. Hardly anyone goes. The memory of a tragedy within the body of a disjointed doll.
The crossing of the Comic!
The crossing of the Comic!

A film by Macha Makeïeff and Benoît Labourdette (9’53s, 2015). With Thomas Morris and the dog Siegfried.

A frantic sequence shot through all the unusual places of the Comic Opera building in Paris. The pursuit of an imaginary singer, in search of her dog and her “Maestro”!
At the time
At the time

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’31s, 2020).

The most beautiful memories can be without nostalgia, because life goes on.
Fire (white monkey)
Fire (white monkey)

Un film de Benoît Labourdette (3’14s, 2017).

La nuit, quand l’angoisse est là, si l’on ose regarder au delà des cendres de la vie, on peut entrevoir une image du salut.
Under the cobblestones of Belfast Beach
Under the cobblestones of Belfast Beach

A film by Benoît Labourdette (1’05s, 2005).

The fascination of being able to film what happens in everyday life, thanks to the first mobile phones equipped with cameras.
FrEE zonE
FrEE zonE

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’52s, 2017).

The remembrance of a drama, and an unexpected confession.
Liberty is in your mind
Liberty is in your mind

Un film de Benoît Labourdette (2’15s, 2018).

Se remémorer que la liberté se conquière d’abord à l’intérieur de nous, quelle que soit la situation extérieure.
Serious accident for a traveler
Serious accident for a traveler

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’43s, 2005).

In 2005, the cameras appear in the phones, and invite to film the daily. One of the first movies shot on mobile phones.
Openings
Openings

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’51s, 2013).

Paradoxical injunctions in school space of a College, with a musical treatment.
The book's title
The book’s title

A film by Benoît Labourdette (6’41s, 2021).

On the difficulty of writing, of forming a sensitive and true trace of the most intimate and precious things. Immersion in the head of an author in search of the memory of a moment of sensuality.
I've seen you
I’ve seen you

A film by Benoît Labourdette (4’09s, 2014).

Where is our body ?
Sands Hotel
Sands Hotel

A film by Benoît Labourdette (6’28s, 2016).

Remember the presence of the lost loved one in a hotel room surrounded by sand.
On the void
On the void

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’35s, 2021).

Meditate, yes... but how to do it?
Love in the confined present tense
Love in the confined present tense

A film by Benoît Labourdette, with the collaboration of Marie Désert, François Cany and Jean-Baptiste Hanak (1’00s, 2020).

Palimpsest of confined lives, of pictorial references, of nascent love, of graphic and audiovisual performance, between Paris and Nantes in 2020.
Moving forward into the impossible
Moving forward into the impossible

A film by Benoît Labourdette (4’54s, 2025).

After the negation of life, how can we move forward, in the impossible?
Waves are water
Waves are water

A film by Benoît Labourdette (4’14s, 2023).

Meditation on the depth of feeling in the world, based on a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh.
The young witch
The young witch

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’23s, 2020).

The child knows her powers.
Little moon
Little moon

A film by Benoît Labourdette (1’26s, 2023).

I try to look further, to feel deeper.
Night road
Night road

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’44s, 2013).

“Small child at the bottom of the back seat of the car, travel and night lights are not very real. With the help of tire, three minutes of travel on the street appear three long hours of (…)
Luminous object
Luminous object

A film by Benoît Labourdette (1’42s, 2019).

“When the eye, emerging from the darkness, suddenly sees a luminous object, it will seem much larger at first sight than in the long run.” Leonardo da Vinci, Notebooks (optical).
The old hallway
The old hallway

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’44s, 2021).

The adult world, incomprehensible to a dominated, abused child.
Vanitas
Vanitas

A film by Benoît Labourdette (12’56s, 2016). With Bénédicte Loyen.

Feverish dream in a baroque chapel. A vanitas with words.
Nature
Nature

Un film de Benoît Labourdette (3’08s, 2021).

Reprendre contact avec la/sa nature, ce n’est pas si simple.
The men on camera
The men on camera

A film by Benoît Labourdette (4’45s, 2015).

Visual composition, music and sound, from a noisy flying camera, referring to the movie “The Man with a Camera” (Dziga Vertov, 1929).
Memory Palace
Memory Palace

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’17s, 2022).

How can a simple place become the crucible for the revelation of our childhood memories?
Poster
Poster

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’02s, 2012).

A touch film, made of paper and words.
Teachers' lounge
Teachers’ lounge

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’07s, 2012).

Everyday life without apparent problems, in this teacher’s room of a high school near Paris. But it conceals dark secrets... a fiction inspired by real events.Ten years after the making of this (…)
Animals at the window, the hill of light
Animals at the window, the hill of light

A film by Benoît Labourdette (5’12s, 2019).

Eat the animals or not? What if the animals speak for themselves?
At the Venice stadium
At the Venice stadium

A film by Benoît Labourdette (6’11s, 2018).

A traumatic event disrupts the past, the present and the notion of reality.
The Unanswered Question Revisited
The Unanswered Question Revisited

Benoît Labourdette’s film and music (2’07s, 2018).

What is life? Can simple little plastic animals help us find the answer to this question?
A tree in tears grows again
A tree in tears grows again

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’05s, 2023).

Life after.
Paris Yellow Pages
Paris Yellow Pages

A film by Benoît Labourdette (1’, 2019).

Paris as seen by its paper directory in 2019.
You are here
You are here

A film by Benoît Labourdette (5’33s, 2011).

The blind run in the streets.
Dream
Dream

Un film de Benoît Labourdette (2’15s, 2005).

Regards et désirs dans le métro.
Back in time
Back in time

A film by Benoît Labourdette (1’26s, 2023).

What if, what if, what if... sometimes you wish you could turn back the clock.
Spike proteins
Spike proteins

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’51s, 2023).

People who have stood up for the respect of humanity are always present, even to help those who had decried them.Directed, text, voice, image and music by Benoît Labourdette, 2023.This (…)
The red jars
The red jars

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’27s, 2021).

Man domesticates nature. For good or bad reasons? Maybe it’s a little more complicated than we thought. Hints for a philosophical reflection
Fragile hopscotch in the sky
Fragile hopscotch in the sky

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’31s, 2019).

The inner experience of a moment of pedagogical innovation in the classroom.
Your attention please
Your attention please

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’08s, 2011).

A station dock, a Flip camera on the ground, the voice-over of the stationmaster, waiting travelers, a train arriving...
Stones of memory
Stones of memory

A film by Benoît Labourdette (8’44s, 2021).

A meditation on the construction of one’s own memory, one’s “memory palace”.
A heritage of life
A heritage of life

A film by Françoise Simpère et Benoît Labourdette (2’13s, 2020).

What we know we’ll take with us on the day we die is probably what can feed our life energy.
The land
The land

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’25s, 2020).

“A place of one’s own, what is it?”
Heart of/for freedom
Heart of/for freedom

Un film de Benoît Labourdette (1’40s, 2019).

Au delà des barrières, des barbelés, des prisons, le cœur vivant est toujours battant.
The beach
The beach

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’54s, 2021).

On an indoor beach, memories and sensual projections.
Hold your right
Hold your right

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’57s, 2005).

Movement of the human gaze, gaze of the machines, movement of the world...
The hand
The hand

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’03s, 2021).

Man’s hand is what gives him speech.
ROSEBUD 2022, the end of cinema
ROSEBUD 2022, the end of cinema

A film by Benoît Labourdette (4’45s, 2022).

To grieve is to carry more weight. It is to live with the absence. It is to become more lucid. It means having to be stronger. It is to be more joyful of everything.
Just a tree
Just a tree

A film by Benoît Labourdette - text by Sonia Leplat (1’28s, 2021).

Thinking, overthinking...
Light in a window
Light in a window

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’06s, 1999-2019).

A contemplative journey through the energy of light, between nature and electronics.
Paris, end of August
Paris, end of August

A film by Benoît Labourdette, 4 minutes, 2009, digital, Scope 2.35, Color, stereo.

We meet a homeless in the street and we forget, one minute later.
No picture on screen
No picture on screen

A film by Benoît Labourdette ( 2’54s , 2015).

The mystery of physiological processes at work in a movie theater.
Chairs
Chairs

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’26s, 2012). Musical improvisation by Olivier Mellano.

We all sat on chairs in classrooms. We make these chairs ? What do they give us ?How they welcome us ? Can we look at them differently than in a utilitarist point of view ? Besides, are they (…)
Black series
Black series

A film by Benoît Labourdette (10’06s, 2015). With Marion Geerebaert.

After the death was sown into arbitrariness, a young woman comes back to haunt her mate.
Vocal strings
Vocal strings

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’31s, 2012).

From the eroticism of the musical instrument.
Cinema folded
Cinema folded

A film by Benoît Labourdette (3’53s, 2013).

Where is cinema ? What is cinema ?
The meeting
The meeting

A film by Benoît Labourdette (5’16s, 2011).

A meeting, like a thousand other meetings. No, it is your meeting.
Behind the scenes
Behind the scenes

A film by Benoît Labourdette (1’41s, 2005).

Preparations for a cinematic event.
Reflection alone
Reflection alone

A film by Benoît Labourdette (2’38s, 2022).

How to find oneself and the world after the shock?
  Short films

I make short films as a painter makes paintings, usually in a lonely way, away from academic practices of making cinema. Some films are made in a very spontaneous way, others can take years to mature. I explore the meeting between the image and the world. These are experimental works, which often also tell stories...

Tags

Tree

Winter

Heaven

Missing

Silence

High intellectual potential

Touch

Shyness

Thinking

Branches
See also