An exercise in introspective film criticism, this video letter, dealing with Taming the Garden (Salomé Jashi, 2021) and A River Runs, Turns, Erases, Replaces (Shengze Zhu, 2021), is addressed to all the participants and mentors of Berlinale Talent Press 2021. It examines both the process of written criticism and its final product in the context of an online film festival. Using the desktop as a means to communicate with readers and spectators, it explores the potential of letters for a collaborative approach to criticism, by calling on the hive mind of peers. It conveys, at the same time, the critic’s experience of writing, reporting and analyzing during a continued lockdown.

Reframing is Inge Coolsaet’s final assignment in the Talent Press workshop at Berlinale 2021.

Read the first assignment, on her expectations for the first virtual edition of Berlinale Talents, here.

All the footage is taken from the trailers of the films. The sound is borrowed from The Guild of Ambience’s youtube channel.