HITOMI
a work by Victoria Ioudina
What if there was only one movie theatre left on the planet?
Would it be a romantically nostalgic memory or a ruin falling into oblivion?
HITOMI (Japanese: . . Pupil) is an art installation, consisting of a depiction of an abandoned deteriorated old school cinema. Within the reality of the piece, the theatre is a historically distant space for us, as it has fallen into oblivion.
In this space a hybrid between the video art and the short film that is part of Hitomi is going to be projected. The ensemble symbolizes the idea of experiencing a half-functioning theater in ruins to convey a ghostly sensation to the people who visit it. That is to say, there is no longer a cinema, but once inside, it starts to function again until the moment where everyone leaves, and it once again becomes an abandoned ruin.
Why is an installation used to project an audiovisual piece? Why has Hitomi not been distributed classically through film festivals? The answer to the question is simple, the installation is part of the piece and part of its symbolism. Hitomi deals in general terms with the risk of extinction of the cinema (theatre).
Therefore, the place where the project should exist would be around an installation that would represent a purely ancient cinema, that would not be seen as a multi-theatre one, and that furthermore, it would be abandoned. There is a constant speech within the audiovisual piece, but it is also very important to give prominence to the installation so that it has voice and must be tangible.
SYNOPSIS
Hitomi has run away from home to take refuge in the last existing but abandoned cinema of the city, as her mother is about to lose her eyesight and wishes for her to go to a cinema before it becomes obsolete. In the meantime, her father is looking desperately for her through the streets of Barcelona.
Within the cinema, Hitomi will conduct a personal introspection through the screen, revisiting her most intimate memories, represented as dreams. These images coming from the protagonist’s subconscious will be projected onto the screen by a strange man, who is part of the theatre and using his last ounces of energy to do so, possibly for the last time.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
VICTORIA IOUDINA
Victoria Ioudina, born 1999 in Barcelona, is a film graduate of the university ESCAC (University of Cinema and Audiovisuals of Catalonia). In 2022 she made her debut as a director with Hitomi, a project consisting of a hybrid between a short film and a video art piece integrated into an art installation. In 2021, Victoria was part of the short film ‘’The Deaf Cry of the Trees’’ as production director. This film is her Final Degree Project and is notable for being filmed in a vertical format. The short film is currently in distribution.
Victoria’s goal as an audiovisual creator is to find new ways of viewing and making films, as well as, to share her aesthetic sensitivity through interactive art.