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The Unanswered Question Revisited

Benoît Labourdette’s film and music (2’07s, 2018).
13 June 2018. Published by Benoît Labourdette.

What is life? Can simple little plastic animals help us find the answer to this question?

A tribute to Charles Ives (1874-1954), composer of “The Unanswered Question” (1908 - musical piece for string ensemble, solo trumpet and wind quartet).

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All the films in « Short films »
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.
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 ...
Two hands
Two hands

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

How to accompany the one who is no longer there?
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.
The hand
The hand

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

Man’s hand is what gives him speech.
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.
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.
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.
Uprooted
Uprooted

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

To see oneself in front of the roots of a tree.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Brahim's backpack
Brahim’s backpack

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

A rat race, to mourn the departure of the beloved.
Already the architecture
Already the architecture

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

Contemplative quest for meaning in an abandoned summer camp.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 (…)
Oh night
Oh night

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

A postcard seems to come to life, and write its own legend.
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.
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.
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.
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?
That light
That light

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

One night, as if nothing had happened.
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).
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 house
The red house

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

Back to the place that resources us.
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.
Paris Yellow Pages
Paris Yellow Pages

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

Paris as seen by its paper directory in 2019.
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.
Nature
Nature

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

Reprendre contact avec la/sa nature, ce n’est pas si simple.
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.
Blue eyes
Blue eyes

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

Facing our child, real or imagined.
The old hallway
The old hallway

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

The adult world, incomprehensible to a dominated, abused child.
Sleeping in Paris
Sleeping in Paris

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

Finding meaning in life, despite its most terrible tragedies
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.
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.
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...
Made in China
Made in China

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

Des animaux en plastique nous parlent.
Myopia
Myopia

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

Myopia can be triggered by trauma. We are left with poetry.
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.
The land
The land

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

“A place of one’s own, what is it?”
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.”
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...
Indifference
Indifference

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

Rediscover the world, between its real and imaginary dimensions, with a new shooting tool.
Back to childhood
Back to childhood

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

Life was a gift.
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 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).
Reflection alone
Reflection alone

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

How to find oneself and the world after the shock?
Pencil camera
Pencil camera

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

One of the first movies shot with mobile phone.
Little moon
Little moon

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

I try to look further, to feel deeper.
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.
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 (…)
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.
News from father
News from father

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

Life on a blank screen...
A seated man
A seated man

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

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

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

Nostalgie musicale dans le métro à Toronto.
Choir
Choir

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

Music softens morals.
The meeting
The meeting

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

A meeting, like a thousand other meetings. No, it is your meeting.
Poster
Poster

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

A touch film, made of paper and words.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Behind the scenes
Behind the scenes

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

Preparations for a cinematic event.
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 ?
Straw fire
Straw fire

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

Dead animals are helplessly witnessing human violence.
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.
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 (…)
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.
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...
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.
The book
The book

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

Gather around a book, gather yourself.
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?
Step by step
Step by step

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

One foot in front of the other, but where to?
FrEE zonE
FrEE zonE

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

The remembrance of a drama, and an unexpected confession.
Vanitas
Vanitas

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

Feverish dream in a baroque chapel. A vanitas with words.
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.
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 (…)
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.
Dream
Dream

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

Regards et désirs dans le métro.
Cinema folded
Cinema folded

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

Where is cinema ? What is cinema ?
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.
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?
Vocal strings
Vocal strings

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

From the eroticism of the musical instrument.
Relic
Relic

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

How can we give a place in our Life to those who have left?
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.
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.
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 ?
The event
The event

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

Observe what is going on behind the eternal appearances.
Barcelona hotel
Barcelona hotel

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

Autofiction on adultery.
Perpetual motion
Perpetual motion

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

Ode to childbirth by a young adult.
Imaginary territory
Imaginary territory

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

Abstract shapes, children color from the sky.
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.
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.
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.
Just a tree
Just a tree

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

Thinking, overthinking...
Openings
Openings

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

Paradoxical injunctions in school space of a College, with a musical treatment.
The beach
The beach

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

On an indoor beach, memories and sensual projections.
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, (…)
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.
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.
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 (…)
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”.
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”!
A tree in tears grows again
A tree in tears grows again

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

Life after.
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 (…)
I've seen you
I’ve seen you

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

Where is our body ?
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?
The line
The line

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

Light is what gives existence.
You are here
You are here

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

The blind run in the streets.
On the void
On the void

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

Meditate, yes... but how to do it?
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.
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.
Accident
Accident

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

« Accident sur une dune du désert blanc. Il ne reste que des rides. »
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 (…)
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.
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 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
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.
  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

Music

Rhinoceros

Charles Ives

Lion

Wild boar

Gorilla

Zebra

Hand

Bears

Glass

Animal

Plastic animals

White
See also