WHITEOUT CONDITIONS explores the discrepancy between the fear-mongering tone of snowfall reports and the idyllic landscapes that accompany them, with the intent of documenting the mise-en-scene, the language and the choreography of Romanian media.
A video essay in the vein of Harun Farocki, WHITEOUT CONDITIONS analyzes with thoughtful flair the TV mythologies of “bad” weather, listening to the news’ alarmist descriptions of “endless rain” and “dogged weather,” or how “winter is throwing down the gauntlet”. Yet during the holidays – i.e. outside of working hours – on the same channel you’ll hear snow become “a picture from the fairytales.” And then when they turn to describe blizzards, avalanches, and white tragedies, another era-defining cliché will be shown in the background: the idyllic winter landscape. Laura Săvuțiu understood – and makes us understand – that winter no longer exists, it’s only “winter”. (Călin Boto)
Laura Săvuțiu studied film directing at UNATC I. L. Caragiale in Bucharest, with a particular interest in the theoretical dimension of film. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in media studies and is interested in the ways in which film intersects with mixed media, archiving, and image theory.
