Video, Duration: 5’24”
A Space Exodus quirkily sets up an adapted stretch of Stanley Kubrick’s
Space Odyssey in a Middle Eastern political context. The recognizable music
scores of the 1968 science fiction film are changed to arabesque chords
matching the surreal visuals of Sansour’s film.
The film follows the director herself onto a phantasmagoric journey through
the universe echoing Stanley Kubrick’s thematic concerns for human
evolution, progress and technology. However, in her film, Sansour posits
the idea of a first Palestinian into space, and, referencing Armstrong’s
moon landing, she interprets this theoretical gesture as “a small step for a
Palestinian, a giant leap for mankind”.
The film offers a naively hopeful and optimistic vision for a Palestinian future
contrasting sharply with all the elements that are currently eating away at the
very idea of a viable Palestinian state. In A Space Exodus, Sansour does
finally reach the moon, although her contact with Palestine’s capital is cut off.
This five-minute short is packed with highly produced visual imagery. The
arabesque elements ranging from the space suit to the music are merged
within a dreamy galactic setting and elaborate special effects. A great deal of
attention is paid to every detail of the film to create a never before seen case
of thrillingly magical Palestinian displacement.
www.larissasansour.com |
