MONACHOPSIS
DIRECTED BY LIESBET VAN LOON
BELGIUM // 2020
11 MINS
Debbie, a young woman, struggles with the feeling of being disconnected from the people around her. Until she meets Sofie with whom she bonds (too) strongly.
Reflective Encounters
“Besides providing a welcome definition to a fancy word that can be dropped at dinner parties, Monachopsis is a wonderful example of using formal quirks to convey meaning. The overlay of purposeful defects on each frame is very Stan Brakhage-esque, giving an ominous tone. Digital glitch effects are very much in vogue at the moment, so a return to these analogue forms of visual decay is refreshing, even when achieved with a computer. Further layers are added to the visuals of the film: backdrops consisting of live-action photos and people are highlighted over into faceless squiggles.
All this mixing of disparate media, when coupled with an aggressive soundscape of noise, effectively conveys the protagonist’s disconnect from her surroundings, and the distress that it causes her. It’s an overwhelming atmosphere, which makes the possibility of connection so tantalising, so precious. There’s a uniquely feverish relationship to hope in the film, when the main character meets someone they can connect to, leading to a mounting sense of vulnerability in the second half that draws the viewer in and holds their emotions to ransom. ”
— Cathy Brennan
Filmmaker Q&A
A Q&A with filmmakers from the Digital-Dystopia programme at Encounters Film Festival 2021.
Filmmakers - Rymalena (People Person), Liesbet van Loon (Monachopsis).
Hosted by Kieran Argo, Animation Programmer
Filmmaker Bio
Liesbet van Loon is born at Diest, Belgium (26-10-1994). With a passion for drawing she decided at a young age to study fine arts at PIKOH secondary school. From there on she continued her studies in Animation. Finishing her Bachelor's and Master's degree at LUCA School of Arts Brussel in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Her Bachelor film 'The Beast' won the VAF Wildcard Animationfilm prize at the International Shortfilmfestival Leuven at 2015. She currently continues to develop her craft as a visual development artist and storyboarder at Fabrique Fantastique. https://www.liesbetvanloon.be/
Director’s Statement
This shortfilm was born after winning a prize with my Bachelor's film. With the VAF Wildcard for Animation at Shortfilm Leuven 2015 I was given the amazing opportunity to fund my next shortfilm before my studies were even finished. Grateful for this chance I worked on a script for a couple of years but I had difficulty finding direction for my film. That was until the talent at Fabrique Fantastique borrowed me their expertise. They helped me develop my ideas into a more cohesive story.
The ideas that sparked my first draft came from several anecdotes from friends and personal experiences. We talked about the struggle of 'coming of age' and feeling out of place in our surroundings. A recurring theme in these stories was the difficulty of making genuine connections with other people. To me it seemed a lot of us struggled with this and I wanted to give a voice to that issue.
So I placed my protagonist in a world where she can't bond with the people around her. She feels out of place because everyone around her appears to her as a blurry shadow. A blob of paint. I've decided to use this strong visual image to illustrate that her disconnect goes beyond simple discomfort.
But that it's rather an impactful part of her day to day life. This is also the reason why I believe it was important for me to create a shortfilm about this phenomenon. So that I can hopefully communicate how universal yet significant this internal struggle can be. I hope to show how this can affect someone. And how we all might keep this in mind towards each other. So that we may put effort in making and maintaining our connections with the people we love.
This shortfilm was also inspired by a lot of film influences I've had during my 'coming of age' years. Mostly I tried to mix the fantastical elements of Ghibli movies with the fly-on-the-wall realism that's so profound in Andrea Arnold's work.
During the early production of this film this seemed to be a tough balance to find. We had a bit of a struggle finding a good narrative structure for this mix of styles. This paired with the unique visual style made for quite an unconventional production. Due to the specificity of the materials used - basically printed out frames on cells and painting over them - I was forced to do a lot of the visual development myself.
Once there was a rhythm to the workflow however I was lucky enough to have a small and dedicated team help me out. Without which this project wouldn't have been able to exist. In the end I hope this film reaches an audience that can relate themselves to it but also learn to be more open with each other. So that we may find more genuine connection in the world and people around us.