Graceful Other

This video is a collage with material from the movie AVATAR by James Cameron. It reflects on the eurocentric and colonial concept of the Self and the (complementary) Other used in the movie. The video combines scenes showing the researcher Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) with other scenes showing her own avatar (as native Na‘vi), as if the two versions of the character were in conversation. The Na‘vi version of Grace is obviously more relaxed and kinder than the human Grace who is fighting for the rights of the Na‘vi. In this video, the two sides of the character interact in changing relations.

  • Myriam Thyes
    Director
    image footage from AVATAR by James Cameron
  • Myriam Thyes
    Writer
    image footage from AVATAR by James Cameron
  • Myriam Thyes
    Producer
    image footage from AVATAR by James Cameron
  • Kristina Kanders + Myriam Thyes
    Sound
  • Project Type:
    Experimental
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 43 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 28, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    200 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    No Dialogue
  • Shooting Format:
    HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Myriam Thyes

https://thyes.com/en/videography

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Director Statement

My themes and visual researches deal with powerful symbols, myths and signs from architecture, society, politics, movies and religions. My artworks are explorations of their meanings, a questioning, reevaluation, and creations of new associations. In order to undermine entrenched representations, I work directly with them, contradict or re-interpret them with visual means, or focus on their hidden aspects. Using video, animation, collage, abstraction, and found footage, well-known figures undergo transformations, start to communicate and build new relations. Symbols of identities turn into elements of dialogues.