Catalogue > At random
Eléonore De Montesquiou
Eksperiment Katja
Experimental doc. | mov | black and white | 9:26 | Estonia | 2020
Katja’s generation was an experiment for the new Republic of Estonia. She was born in 1992 in Narva, in the Eastern part of Estonia bordering Russia. Her birth coincides with the creation of the new Republic of Estonia and she received Estonian citizenship. Katja's mother tongue is Russian, but her grandfather was Estonian and taught her the language at home. The film suggests several metaphors to describe the trauma of this generation - from Little Red Riding Hood to the keyword of experiment.
French-Estonian, born in 1970 in Paris Eléonore de Montesquiou’s work revolves around the articulation between private and official histories, personal and national identities. It tackles the intricacies and ambiguities of living in the margins, based on her personal experience of up rootedness. Eléonore is primarily working with video, she tapes testimonies, creating prosthetic memories of repressed histories. In her documentary-informed works, her camera becomes the voice of these voiceless people. Her work is based on a documentary approach, translated in films, drawings and texts; it deals mainly with issues of integration/immigration/meaning of a nation in Estonia, giving voice to the Russian community. A few years ago, she started working with asylum seekers from French speaking countries in Estonia.