Private Project

The Jumping Ruler

For the subtitled version click here: https://vimeo.com/254375421/07f4b6e754

"The Jumping Ruler" is a silly experimental video on demagoguery in the addresses of politicians.

Serving as an example of demagoguery in political addresses, the main text of the video is compiled of excerpts from inaugural speeches of five incumbent leaders: Donald Trump (USA), Vladimir Putin (Russia), Emmanuel Macron (France), Xi Jinping (China), and Justin Trudeau (Canada). The only modification introduced to the text of the speeches is replacing names of the countries and nations, with the words "our country, our people." This was done to blend the excerpts together and highlight commonalities in the pathos of the address.

The countries are chosen as representatives from different parts of the world, where the political power is different from one another - while demagoguery in their speeches is quite similar. These countries serve as recognizable examples in the video. This is not a critique aimed only at the mentioned countries, but a wider critique of empty, at times misleading words used by people in power, regardless of the regime or a party.

The video is peppered with the iconography of media production, such as blue and green screens, providing a poignant association with the empty and interchangeable words, while the foley sounds highlight the slippery reality outlined in the piece. The nature of these audiovisual relationships highlight the simultaneous detachment and power of the demagogue to shape the environment of their constituents and their opinions.

Sources of inauguration speeches:

Vladimir Putin - http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/48210
Emmanuel Macron - http://uk.businessinsider.com/full-text-emmanuel-macron-first-speech-president-2017-5
Justin Trudeau - http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/justin-trudeau-for-the-record-we-beat-fear-with-hope/
Donald Trump - http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/09/politics/donald-trump-victory-speech/index.html
Xi Jinping - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-20338586

  • Anna Grigorian
    Director
  • Anna Grigorian
    Writer
  • Anna Grigorian
    Producer
  • Anna Grigorian
    Camera, Lights, Video and Sound Editing
  • Ashod Nakashian
    Key Cast
  • Raphael Belizaire
    Key Cast
  • Margarita Grigoryan
    Key Cast
  • Bolek Sokół
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    December 20, 2017
  • Country of Origin:
    Armenia
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • ARTENS. ΞΟΥΘ Festival
    Athens
    Greece
    December 18, 2019
    Official Selection
  • MOMus-State Museum of Contemporary Art. Videoland.
    Thessaloniki
    Greece
    April 5, 2019
    Official Selection
  • 1st BCK Film Symposium / Balkan Can Kino
    Athens
    Greece
    November 4, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Video Art Miden
    Kalamata
    Greece
    July 5, 2018
    Official Selection
  • "One Shot" International Short Film Festival
    Yerevan
    Armenia
    June 4, 2018
    Official Selection
  • fliQs queer film nights
    Montreal
    Canada
    April 23, 2018
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Anna Grigorian

I am an experimental visual artist, working primarily in the mediums of video art, and photography. Originally from Armenia, I currently live and work in Montreal, Canada.

SCREENINGS / INSTALLATIONS

2021 -Tokyo International Monthly Film Festival. Awards: Special Mention

2021 -Yerevan Modern Art Museum (with support of Canada Council for the Arts and Art and Cultural Studies Laboratory “Art Commune” International Artist in Residence Program), video screenings and discussions in Yerevan, Armenia

2021 -Creation residency at ACSL Yerevan, Armenia

2020 - Frozen (online screening), curators: Gioula & Olga Papadopoulou, Fest Miden Greece

2020 -From My Window, curators: Daniel Moutinho, Nuno Veiga, digital curatorial project

2020 -Thessaloniki, Greece. Festival Miden

2019 MOMus-State Museum of Contemporary Art. Videoland. Screenings in Thessaloniki, Greece

2018 1st BCK Film Symposium. Balkan Can Kino, Screening in Athens, Greece

2018 ARTROC Le QUAI-développement interculturel Quartier des Arts MONTCALM; (curators: Alexandra Bérubé, Béatrice Larochelle, Kasia Basta) Quebec City, Canada

2018 "ONE SHOT" International Short Film Festival, Yerevan, Armenia

2018 Fest Miden, Video Art. Greece

2018 fliQs: Queer film night. Energy (jurors, organizers: Mélissa Tamporello, Logan James) Screening at Notre Dame Des Quilles, Montreal

2018 Altered States Intermedia Department Graduating Exhibition, Installation at Eastern Bloc, Montreal

2017 fliQs: Queer film night. Fluidity (jurors, organizers: Mélissa Tamporello, Logan James) Screening at Notre Dame Des Quilles, Montreal

2017 fliQs: Queer film night. Revolutions (jurors, organizers: Mélissa Tamporello, Logan James) Screening at Notre Dame Des Quilles, Montreal

2016 Bad Movie Night (curator: Daniel Rig) Screening at Bad Lunch, Montreal

2016 HI LATENCY (curator: Robert Scalia) Installation at The Mothership, Montreal

2016 Bring Your Own Beamer (curators: Lesya Nakoneczny, Amelia Robitaille, Michael Langiewicz) Installation at Bad Lunch, Montreal

2015 White Noise//Dark Matter Installation at Le Réacteur, Montreal

2014 Movements in the Dark (curator: Catherine Laframboise Desjardin) Installation at Studio 7, Montreal

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2016 Art to Art collaborative exhibition between Art History and Studio Arts departments in Concordia. Project by Dr. Loren Lerner. Montreal

2016 Centerfold VII (curators/jurors: Brittne Potter, Sandro Papais, Adam Heard Rutledge, Nadim El-Asmar), Montreal

2016 Art Matters x Nuit Blanche (jurors: Hélène Sharp, Timothy O'Donnell Schauer) Mainline Theater, Montreal

2015 Salonesque Montreal Arts Interculturels (MAI)

2013 Through the Window Les Journees de la Culture a Montreal (curator: Natasha Henderson) Fleurbain, Montreal

2013 Pop-Up Art Expo Fringe Festival, GallerieFRINGE MTL, Montreal

2012 Fairytales in the City (curator: Natasha Henderson) Fleurbain, Montreal

2012 The Heat of Summer Montreal Art Center

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Employing silly humor, and absurd imagery, I question the accepted norms, and structures of our society. My shorts do not follow a traditional narrative. Rather, using minimal camera movements, I work with the connection of camera frame and reality inside and outside of it, as well as montage as one of the key creative tools to warp the reality and present it under an unexpected angle.