In 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise liner sank off the coast of Tuscany, killing 32 people. In Film Socialisme (2010), the ship served as an allegorical vessel for Jean-Luc Godard’s pointed political critique. In Film catastrophe, director, actor and Film Socialisme co-cinematographer Paul Grivas revisits the events by combining on-set footage of the Godard film and civilian-shot footage captured aboard the Concordia as it ran aground. Made in the spirit of Godard’s frequent companion pieces to his own features, this “anatomy of a disaster” reanimates the ship’s ghostly aura and offers precious insight into Godard’s process. (Nicole Brenez)
Paul Grivas is a French-Mexican director, actor and cinematographer, editor, composer and curator in big film festivals. He is known for working with his uncle Jean-Luc Godard as a production manager in Notre musique (2004) and cinematographer in Film socialisme (2010). His documentary Film catastrophe (2018) won a prize at the Entrevues Belfort Film Festival. He also made a short study on Godard’s method in Τhe incomparable of the non-comparable(2019).
