Trained in documentary, the Belgian filmmaker Caroline Strubbe relied on the keen observation of concrete detail, rather than conventional dialogue-driven exposition, to advance the enigmatic narratives of her three fiction features. Collectively titled Trying to Forget to Remember, Strubbe’s trilogy, shot over nearly two decades, follows a Flemish girl named Tess and a Hungarian migrant worker named Szabolcs from a charged encounter in an industrial wasteland through its largely unspoken aftermath. Featuring the same principal cast throughout, the trilogy follows Tess literally growing up on screen and Szabolcs aging into the weight of what he has done.
Strubbe wrote 370 pages and 27 script versions for the first installment alone. That depth of preparation belies a filmmaking style that appears, from the outside, almost artless: handheld and improvisatory, attentive to gesture and glance rather than declaration. For this presentation, Strubbe has chosen to begin the program by screening the films in reverse chronological order, placing consequence before cause and asking audiences to form judgments before they possess the evidence that would complicate them. Each film stands alone; together they compose a portrait of dislocation, complicity, and the glacially slow work of forgiveness.
Organized by Dave Kehr, Curator, and Steve Macfarlane, Department Assistant, Department of Film.
Film at MoMA is made possible by CHANEL.
Additional support is provided by the Annual Film Fund. Leadership support for the Annual Film Fund is provided by The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, Agnes Gund through The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), and The Young Patrons Council of The Museum of Modern Art.
