Resisting Paradise

With Barbara Hammer in person. Discussion moderated by Carmel Curtis, Leslie-Lohman Museum.  

Dir. Barbara Hammer. 2003, 80 mins. 16mm. Barbara Hammer has crafted an eloquent and richly layered examination of the artist’s and individual’s role in times of conflict. Resisting Paradise focuses on Henri Matisse and Pierre Bonnard’s artistic work in the south of France during World War II, while also examining the word of Matisse’s family and others in the French Resistance Movement. Featuring captivating interviews with former Resistance workers Lisa Fittko (who smuggled Walter Benjamin out of France), Marie-Ange Allibert, and Matisse’s grandchildren, rare archival footage, and lush cinematography referencing the painters’ styles and the rich landscape of the Provence of France, Resisting Paradise is a compelling look at the intersection of art and life in complex times. (Film description by Maria Christina Villasenor). Post-screening discussion moderated by Carmel Curtis, Co-curator of Barbara Hammer: Evidentiary Bodies at the Leslie-Lohman Museum.

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