best friends, best best friends, intentional friends
16mm film, shot on Kodak Double-X, 3’16”
https://vimeo.com/croitoru/friends

Synopsis
Friends looking at friends through the lens of the first motion camera. A family album of sorts, a testimony, an acknowledgement and a witnessing of each other.

Director's statement

This very short film, also part of the solo exhibition A language that is felt, is the results of a long-term research project focused on the historical, visual and written accounts of friendship between women.

The film's central theme is the act of witnessing, an essential aspect of every relationship of friendship. I was interested in looking and being looked at by my closest friends, in an act of observing and acknowledging each other and our relation. In this process, the viewer becomes part of the witnessing.

The video echoes the style of photographic family albums, with narrow shots and close-ups. It also blends spontaneity with performing for the camera, touching on topics such as intimacy, nostalgia, agency and authorship.

Camera: Raluca Croitoru, Elena Butică, Andrei Butică, Nilgün Demirhan, Roxana Babiciu
Film processing and editing: Raluca Croitoru
Additional thanks to Iris Aszalos, Esther Urlus and Filmwerkplaats Rotterdam