Using cicadas as a metaphor, this cine poem, Palimpsest, is a philosophical musing into the idea of life.
Poem, Film, animation & Editing: Tova Beck-Friedman
Music: Jimena Contreras
Palimpsest - the poem
I
my life reflected
in a cicada
reflected in an insect
an insect hibernating
17 years underground
17 years in the dark
waiting for the ripe
moment to emerge —
emerge from a slumberto the only thing
it’s destined to attain
procreate
and
expire
II
an eraser in hand
wiping-off scribbled pages
writing — erasing
again and again
only slight variations
modest changes
create
and
efface
III
when my ancestors
departed this world
they left behind
muted markings
— vestiges —
upon which I compose
Screenings:
Festival internacional Signos da Noite, Lisbon, 2024
Second Poetic Cinema Festival, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2024
London Cinematic Horizons, London, UK 2024
RESONANS – A Fringe of Nature & Culture, Red Door Gallery, Copenhagen 2024
Poetry in Motion, Colorado US, 2024,
Reels International Film Festival, Maharashtra, India 2024
Festival Fotogenia, Mexico City, 2024