The Illinois Parables, Deborah Stratman, EEUU, 60', OV (English) with subtitles in spanish
An experimental documentary. Eleven parables recount events from the history of the state of Illinois: regional vignettes about faith, force, technology and exodus. From the violent eviction of the Cherokee to the establishment of a utopian community of French Icarians, the invention of the nuclear reactor, and the murder of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, the film relays histories of settlement, removal, technological breakthrough, violence, messianism, and resistance. Illinois functions here as a convenient structural ruse, allowing its histories to become allegories that explore how societies are shaped by conviction and ideology.
Deborah Stratman (Washington, 1967) presents the documentary The Illinois Parables, which was screened for the first time at Sundance and had its European premiere in Berlin. In this experimental piece, the renowned American artist and filmmaker, whose previous film Second Sighted (2014) was programmed at Tabakalera in its Cartes Blanches programme, explores the historical role that beliefs have played in social ideology and national identity.
'The Illinois Parables' by Deborah Stratman explores the historical role that beliefs have played in social ideology and national identity.