Good luck (2017)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2017
	Director: Ben Russell
	Actors: -
	Country: USA
	Genre: Documentary
	Conditions of visioning: 16.09.2017, Fridericianum, documenta14, digital video
Synopsis: It is a comparative film study about the communities of workers in an illegal, small-scale gold mine in Suriname and in a state-owned copper mine in Serbia. In addition, he has organized a four-day film and performance festival in Athens, titled HALLUCINATION(S), inviting independent filmmakers, musicians, visual artists, and film researchers to collectively unravel cinema’s hallucinatory potential.
Review: The idea is not only original but the visual and sensorial concept is very interesting. By entering in the exhibition room, I had to go in the cellar of the Fridericianum. There it was dark to very dark until we see some light. This is the light of one of the projections. The four-channel digital video installation presented different parts of the movie Good luck so that in one room, I felt like being in the mine with the Serbian miners, in the other I had the impression to follow the miners in Suriname on their way to the gold mine.  There is no story really. We just follow the daily life and real dialogues of the Serbian and Suriname miners. The discussions and the way the pause is taken in Serbia reminded me experienced scenes in the silver mines of Potosi, Bolivia. The digital videos have been transferred from 16 mm, color for Suriname and black-and-white for Serbia. In total it is 71 min. It is actually far too long for the content. But the important is to feel like sharing a piece of daily life. And the exhibition room and the installation allows this.This shows good mastering of the filming and projection techniques fitting to the overall artistic concept. Really good! The movie has been presented at the modern art exhibition documenta14 in Kassel, Germany.  The artist Ben Russell has a sublime website including several of his movies. Probably I will review other of his former works.
Rating: 8 /10