Hundreds of audio recordings of Dion McGregor, a renowned sleeper who dreamt out loud at length and with remarkable coherence, were used as the basis of a fascinating excursion into the human subconscious where wild orgies play out, the practical details of a dwarf city are attended to, and strange scientific experiments are analyzed.
During the 1960s, New York musician Dion McGregor couch-surfed at a variety of friends’ homes. When he eventually moved in with fellow songwriter Mike Barr, the latter had no idea that when McGregor fell asleep, he would dream out loud – long and with surprising coherence. During the seven years that McGregor stayed in his home, Barr would regularly tiptoe into the living room where McGregor slept to tape record his surreal, comically absurd, and decadent excursions into the human subconscious. Hundreds of these recordings form the basis of Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor’s fascinating documentary, in which they follow McGregor into a remarkable fantasy world that combines empathy, desire, and disgust. A sleeper famous even among the scientific community, his dreams involve attending to the practical details of a dwarf city, analyzing strange scientific experiments, observing wild orgies… Incorporating both intimacy and voyeurism, somniloquies is a captivating movie.
Hubert Poul
75 min / Color, DCP
Director Véréna Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor
/ Dir. of Photography Verena Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor
/ Editor Verena Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor
/ Producer Valentina Novati
/ Production Norte Productions
/ Coproduction S.E.L
/ Sales Norte Productions
Verena Paravel (b. 1971, Neuchâtel, Switzerland) graduated in anthropology in France. She moved to the United States in 2004 where she received a scholarship for postdoctoral studies at Columbia University. She has created a number of short films and video installations. Working in the Sensory Ethnography Lab at Harvard has had the greatest impact on her work, and there she met Lucien Castaing-Taylor (b. 1966, Liverpool). He studied philosophy, theology, and anthropology at the University of Cambridge and the University of California, Berkeley. Later he became head of the Sensory Ethnography Lab. The feature-length Sweetgrass (2009) is a noteworthy documentary. He and Paravel then shot their best known picture to date: Leviathan (2012), and were nominated and awarded at a number of festivals for their efforts.
Norte Productions
12 Rue Calmels, 75018, Paris
France
Phone: +33 983 840 158
E-mail: [email protected]
First-hand brews throughout the year.
Be among the first to learn about upcoming events and other news. We only send the newsletter when we have something to say.
