Facing Forward (1999)
In reframing and re-editing existing ethnographic films, Tan exposes their anthropological underpinnings and questions the conventions of filmmaking. What is the relationship between the observer and the observed? How can one ever know another? The voice-over, a fictional dialogue taken from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, may offer an answer. The explorer Marco Polo and Emperor Kublai Khan are speaking about travel and looking back on the past, when Polo observes, “The traveler recognises the little that is his, discovering the much he has not had and will never have.”
Director: Fiona Tan
Runtime: 10 min
Release Date: January 1, 1999
Cast
- Owen Oppenheimer - Narrator
Editing: Fiona Tan
Country: Netherlands
Language: English
Original Language: en
Keywords
archive footage, film archives
More Films by Director: Fiona Tan
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Facing Forward about?
- In reframing and re-editing existing ethnographic films, Tan exposes their anthropological underpinnings and questions the conventions of filmmaking. What is the relationship between the observer and the observed? How can one ever know another? The voice-over, a fictional dialogue taken from Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, may offer an answer. The explorer Marco Polo and Emperor Kublai Khan are speaking about travel and looking back on the past, when Polo observes, “The traveler recognises the little that is his, discovering the much he has not had and will never have.”
- Who directed Facing Forward?
- Facing Forward was directed by Fiona Tan.
- Who stars in Facing Forward?
- Facing Forward stars Owen Oppenheimer.
- How long is Facing Forward?
- Facing Forward has a runtime of 10m (10 minutes).
- Where was Facing Forward produced?
- Facing Forward was produced in Netherlands.