_{Flow by Adriaan Lokman}

Hence the name of the Annecy programme, Lokman’s Space. “Space is important for me. Most of my films are three dimensional. I go in all directions,” the filmmaker says.

A sublime example of this is his 2019 film Flow*, described as ‘a turbulent day, painted by the air.’ In the film Lokman applies linear tracking to the movement of the wind around solid objects; humans, buildings, a turbulent sea, even a lazy hand, languidly extended from the window of a sports car. Then he removes the objects from the frame, but their impressions remain, defined by the movements in the air. “Everything that is invisible, I turn visible. Everything that is visible, I turn invisible,” Lokman told See NL in 2019.

Likewise his Barcode* (2002), which won Annecy’s Grand Prix, and the audacious Chase* (2013) both of which propel the viewer on a rollercoaster ride through wild and digital mises-en-scène, accompanied by transistorised soundscapes which pump the tension up to the max.

“I want to be on the boundary of what is abstract and realistic, and try to cross that boundary as far as possible so that the audience has to use their own imagination to make their own film out of it,” Lokman explains. “A lot of times I get different reflections on my film. People see things in it that I did not see nor was aware of. Or it works the other way around. But that is totally okay. The goal is not that this must be a totally clear story. The goal is that, from start to finish, you like the experience.”

That said, such is the intensity of the experience, Lokman would be reluctant to work outside the short film format. “The films are very conceptual but I do not think these concepts would last for more than 15 minutes. For a feature length film, I do not see that happening. The films are really leaning on complex concepts, and I think after a certain point it would become fatiguing for the viewer.”

What is more, working on the longer format would entail overseeing an altogether larger operation, with a lot more personnel involved. “I would be directing other people, which wouldn’t be anywhere like as satisfying,” he says. “I enjoy very much doing it this way. So in that sense, I'm selfish. I want to keep it to myself.”

Yes, he sees himself as an experimental filmmaker, but experimentation is not an end in itself. In Chase, the action may comprise a series of triangles morphing into myriad geometric shapes, but the whole thing is driven by the logic of the pursuit. The triangles become a helicopter, a train and a car, and eventually a human who is flung from his speeding vehicle.

“Most experimental animation films (‘and I am over-generalising here,’ he concedes) very often lead to moving wallpaper,” says Lokman. “You need a threat throughout the film to deliver your spectators from A to B. That means some kind of idea about what you want to show and where you want to go, how to build attention, how to change pace, so it stays interesting and builds a certain logic even if the world of triangles is not very logical in itself.”

Based in France near Clermont-Ferrand, Lokman has, for many years, collaborated very closely with fellow Dutch (and fellow experimental) producer Richard Valk. “He is laid back in a certain way and I am kind of stubborn,” says Lokman of the producer. “I can be kind of difficult [in terms of] where I want to go, when I choose and in the certain direction I want to take. But he has a lot of flexibility and he lets me do things. He trusts me and I trust him… and he is very good at bringing people together.”

In October 2022 Lokman will be presenting a selection of his animated 3D printed video installations during the Dutch Design Week. And right now he is completing a VR of Flow as well as developing another conceptual film, the experimental O which this time examines the properties of water.

“It has my handwriting,” Lokman says. “If there is nothing else there, then water is transparent and invisible when it is not moving. But as soon as it starts moving and if you are reflecting things into it then it becomes alive. So I am going to tell a story using the reflections in water.”

Barcode is produced by il Luster Films, while Flow and Chase are produced by Valk Productions. Click here for the full screening schedule of all Dutch animations at Annecy 2022.
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*Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund