Reflective Encounters

“With a visual aesthetic that takes us into an undecided temporal interstice, playing with pale colours and superimposed angular patterns on bodies and objects, Press(ed) is somewhere between the beginnings of silent Soviet cinema and German expressionism. But beyond the visuals, it is the presence of sound that is even more crucial here, bringing the film back into a more contemporary atmosphere, where repetition becomes a central and major motif, reminding us of the hypnotic performances of Philip Glass.

At first raw and primitive, the multiple layers of sound intertwine before taking on a deeper dimension thanks to the muffled electronic distortions of the synthesizers. Towards the last tier of the short, the musical atmosphere – composed by director Senne Driesen with collaborator Wouter Souvereyns – becomes increasingly bewitching and mesmerising. By tackling a very well-known topic such as labour under capitalist structures, enhanced by the repetitive rhythm mirroring the repetitive demands of this world, and by playing with appealing references and atmospheres, this short is a unique demonstration of the filmmaking voice of Senne Driesen.”

— Florian Fernandez