Sophie Dascal

Although relatively unknown nowadays, Jean Epstein, a filmmaker, a poet, and a philosopher from the first half of the 20^th century, offers an alternative to the many thinkers who have conceptualised the relation between philosophy and cinema. The revaluation of this relation comes from his understanding of cinema as a »dispositif«, i.e. as a cinematographic device. This fascinating and complex »dispositif« that combines both processes of recording and projecting represent for Epstein the birth of a new revolutionary philosophy: the »antiphilosophy«. This new way of thinking cinema under the machine perspective entails a reflection that goes beyond thinking cinema as philosophy of film(s) or as an abstraction. It is the cinematograph itself that think and create its own philosophy, the »antiphilosophy«. The most developed and complete conceptualisation of this thought can be found in his 1946 »L’intelligence d’une machine« but its seeds can be traced back to his 1922 »La Lyrosophie«. In this book, Epstein develops a new science born from the ashes of excessive rationalism. More than a new science, Epstein announces a new aesthetics, a mode of knowledge in which reason and emotion merge. But who can take on such a task of revolutionising knowledge? No one else but the cinematograph itself.

Sophie Dascal obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in philosophy and history of art in 2013. Afterwards she studied aesthetics of cinema and obtained a Master of Arts in History of Film with specialisation in Theories/Practices from the University of Lausanne in 2015. She dedicated her Master thesis on a study about the relation between philosophy and cinema in the work of Jean Epstein, author that prompted her to get involved in filmmaking. She joins the HEAD cinema department in Geneva in 2015 where she continues her reflexion at the intersection between theory and practice and the relation between philosophy and cinema. In the course of her studies at the University of Lausanne, she directed a few short films and took part into various performances which combined music and moving images. Since her joining the HEAD in Geneva she directed a short 16mm film: »The Fanatics of the World Behind« in which she focussed on the concept of transformation, both human and mechanised, chemical and conceptual. At the moment, she is working on a new film: »Succubus: 1^st Movement« which questions the current economic system.