cup2020 | round 4 | Sastry v Khitruk

[Curtis, baby]

And I Make Short Films (S. N. S. Sastry, 1968) vs. Man in the Frame (Fyodor Khitruk, 1966)

Vote for either xSastry or xKhitruk

Round ends: April 30, 2020

[augusto]

'twas the first sastry film i'd watched (and was floored by) many years ago, but perhaps best as a curtain closer for this cup. (he made short films, in case you hadn't noticed.) a twitter mutual of mine posted a short quip on the film's letterboxd page that goes: "chitra qitaab", meaning image book, a reference no doubt to the fact that godard was heavily inspired by it. (i'm kidding, i haven't seen the image book.)

anyway, here's a blurb from cinemadureel :

"Sastry upends all the conventions of documentary and fiction filmmaking to debunk the supposed “truth” of the image. This is an irreverent and caustic essay on the purpose of documentary filmmaking and the responsibility of a filmmaker. Is s/he merely a technician involved in a formal exercise or someone engaged in the sociological concerns to which films are answerable? Is one of these purposes of filmmaking more noble or more respectable than the other?"

thank you for watching! despite the shortness and thin participation, it's been fun to re/watch, re/think some of these shorts for the cup, and i hope you found something (or many things) of value in them as well.

(pd: also was unable to do so in the previous round, but will try to watch all of the other three matches in this one.)

[Mario Gaborovic]

xKhitruk

[greennui]

This is probably fav xKhitruk of the bunch. Generally, I've found his animation style a little too reminiscent of the Eastern European cartoons I watched as kid when nothing else was on.

[mesnalty]

Both delightfully offbeat choices, but xSastry edges out Khitruk for me.

[Holymanm]

xKhitruk

[john ryan]

xSastry

[ofrene]

xKhitruk

[Curtis, baby]

Khitruk wins!