Babash

Lisa Truttmann

Lisa Truttmann

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Films

Babash

Film portrait of a friendship, 2014

Film portrait of a friendship, 2014

DCP, US/AT, 9:02 min.
Filmed in Monterey Park, California
in collabration with Behrouz Rae



Babash is a parrot who speaks mostly Farsi but ­sometimes mixes English and Azeri into his ­conversations. A singular language resulting from the place where he lives: a house in Los Angeles shared with an Iranian family. The same place where Behrouz Rae developed a friendship with Babash over the years. This short film is an associative portrait about a special relationship and the ­domestic surroundings in which it grew. An ­assemblage where household objects, daily movements and playful intimacies are mixed with a dauntless montage, precise sounds and a sensitive gaze. Observing this genuine cross-species friendship between Babash and Behrouz, listening to their shared invented language, it’s possible to grasp an equally shared and evocative sense of misplacement.

German synopsis
Babash ist ein Papagei. Er lebt in Los Angeles und spricht meist Farsi, da er bei einer iranischen Familie wohnt. Manchmal verirren sich ein paar englische und aserbaidschanische Sprachfetzen in seine Konversationen. Im Laufe der Jahre haben sich Behrouz Rae und Babash angefreundet. Der Kurzfilm Babash ist ein assoziatives Portrait dieser besonderen Beziehung, und dem häuslichen Umfeld in dem sie wuchs. In der Beobachtung der beiden, beim Intervenieren mit Farbtafeln, und beim Erfinden einer eigenen Sprache, spüren wir die Aufrichtigkeit dieser Beziehung, die mehr als nur eine gemeinsame Unzugehörigkeit teilt.


Video
Synopsis
Stills
Excerpts
Screenings
Credits
Excerpts
Screenings
Group exhibitions
2021
Wake Words, The Golden Pixel Cooperative at Kunstraum Niederösterreich, Vienna, AT
Festivals
2016
Winnipeg Underground Film Festival, CA
2016
Festival Cinema Invisible, Schenectady, New York, US
2015
Media City Film Festival, Windsor, Ontario, CA
2015
Positivus Festival, Cinema Tent, Salacgrīva, LV
2015
22nd Chicago Underground Film Festival, Illinois, US
2015
MiIwaukee Underground Film Festival, Wisconsin, US
2015
Athens International Film and Video Festival, Ohio, US
2015
53rd Ann Arbor Film Festival, Michigan, US
2014
Short Joy, Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival, CZ
2014
Projections, New York Film Festival, New York City, US
Awards
2015
The No Violence Award, 53rd Ann Arbor Film Festival, US
2014
Best European Documentary Short, Short Joy, Jihlava IDFF, CZ
Programs
2023
As, Is, The Union Cinema, Milwaukee, US
2023
As, Is, The Gene Siskel Film Center, SAIC, Chicago, US
2020
I long to be close to you, The Golden Pixel Cooperative at Le Studio, Vienna, AT
2018
Whispering Mimicry, The Golden Pixel Cooperative, Moviemento Kino, Linz, AT
2017
A Sleeping World, Light Industry, New York City, US
2017
Ein Grün, von fern gespiegelt, Notgalerie & The Golden Pixel Cooperative, Vienna, AT
2016
Between SpeciesBetween Species, UVP Urban Video Project, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, US
2015
Austrian Film Award, Short Film Series, Austrian Film Academy, MUMOK-Kino, Vienna, AT
2015
Other People’s Screens, Cincinnati, Ohio, US
2014
CalArts Showcase, Redcat, Los Angeles, California, US
2014
Domesticity, Picture Show, New York City, US
Screening Tours
2016
Austrian Short Film Series, World Tour, Austrian Film Academy & BMEIA:
Pilsen, Olomouc, Liberec, Brno, CZ; Prizren, Kosovo; Shkoder, AL; Albacete, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Malaga, a.o. cities, ES; Busan International Short Film Festival (BISFF), South KR; 60th anniversary of the Austrian Cultural Forum London, UK; 10th Fünf Seen Film Festival in Starnberg, DE; University of Debrecen, HU; Universidad Nacional Autónomo de México, MX; Etiuda & Anima Film Festival, Krakow, PL; Austrian Cultural Forum Washington, US; 28th Istanbul Short Film Festival, TR
2015
53rd Ann Arbor Film Festival World Tour:
Pittsburgh Filmmakers, US; The Nickelodeon, Columbia, US; Ann Arbor District Library, US; Cinematheque Quebecoise, Montreal, CA; University of Rochester, US, Edge Hill University, Lancashire, UK; UW-M Union Cinema, Milwaukee, US; Pitzer College, Claremont, US; Detroit Film Theater, US; Grand Illusion Cinema, Seattle, US
Solo/Two person screenings
2024
FOCUS ON: Lisa Truttmann, Breitenseer Lichtspiele, Vienna, AT
2021
Short films by Lisa Truttmann, Le Studio Film und Bühne, Vienna, AT
2018
Blickle Archive Series #27: Lisa Truttmann, Belvedere 21, Vienna, AT
2015
Where are we?, Works by Lisa Truttmann, Fulbright screening, MUQUA, Raum D, Vienna, AT
Credits
With
Babash the parrot
Behrouz Rae
Illustrations
Elizabeth Butterworth, in
Parrots, Macaws, and Cockatoos
Camera, sound, edit
Lisa Truttmann
Second camera, sound
Behrouz Rae
Sound mix
Craig Smith
Special thanks to
Amaneh Haghighat Namini
Ilhama Safarova
Hamid Kamali
Thanks to
Julie Murray
Laura Kraning
James Benning
Astra Price