When young skateboarder Vincent meets a vulnerable animal at the bottom of a hole, the encounter will get him to confront his own fears of the unknown. English Title Black Hole Year of production 2020 Length 29min Country Switzerland Shooting Format 2K Aspect Ratio 1,33:1 Dialogue French Director Tristan Aymon Producer Isabelle Zampiero Production Terrain Vague Co-Production RTS, Radio Télévision Suisse, Patrick Suhner Writers Tristan Aymon, Marianne Brun Cinematographer Joakim Chardonnens Editor Lilian Corbeille Sound Design Samuel Aïchoun Sound Vincent Nouaille Sound Editing Raphaël Sohier Original MusicJacques Henri Sennwald CastMartin Barras, Anthony Maurer, Tilo Kübler, David Evora, Martin Pittet, Stefanie Günther Pizarro With the support of L’Office fédéral de la culture OFC, Cinéforom, La Loterie Romande, La Ville de Sion, La Ville de Martigny, La Commune de Fully, La Fondation Léonard Gianadda Mécénat.
Website Terrain Vague Director's Statement For me, making films today is trying to rediscover the intoxicating sensations of my adolescence; passionately pursuing a project like a skateboard trick, finding the singularity of my style, the right point of view in the direction, searching for my limits, sharing. Continuing to believe that everything is possible. When I was young, skateboarding was a big part of my identity. In the 2000s (YouTube was born years later), we exchanged VHS magazine videos of the latest tricks of American skateboarders. We were trying to adapt this free urban dance to our unsuitable rural environment, which forced us to be very creative. Our prowess, which I was filming at the time with my little Sony and mounted on an analog editing bench that I was lent, was my first rapport with cinema. In Black Hole, I wanted to show the intensity of the friendships within a group of young skateboarders, rocked by their dreams and ideals, without social barriers, invincible, convinced that they would remain together forever. But the full time of adolescence, as if suspended, is already cracking. How can I make my character, Vincent, feel the feeling of vertigo that he is experiencing, following his parents’ announcement of his forthcoming departure abroad? How can I show what he feels through images? How to make his changing relationship with time visible? I wanted to show the vulnerability of a man in the making, facing the unknown and his fear of uprooting. In this black hole, Vincent navigates on sight, without landmarks. Time lengthens and distorts itself−the matches of Bengal light up and go out at the rhythm of a countdown before the departure. The encounter with this vulnerable, lost, lonely creature brings him back to himself and his condition. My characters separate on a road, as if to better trace the end of a path they were tracing together. This is a scene that I wanted to be festive: a dance, a chaos of explosions, a mixture of joy and sadness, insults, shouting, laughter …. Before the hands are untied, the convoy of friends continues on its way, and lets Vincent plunge into the night, under the stars−to each his destiny.
