FILM LECTURE: THE MYSTERIES OF DONNIE DARKO

In this film lecture, Hugo Emmerzael explores the world of mindfuck and mystery films: movies that challenge our sense of reality, identity, time and narrative logic. Rather than simply telling a story, these films turn watching into an active process, asking us to question what we see, what we know and whether we can trust the perspective we are given.

From fractured narratives and unreliable protagonists to alternate realities and stories that seem to rearrange themselves as we watch, the puzzle film has developed into one of cinema’s most fascinating ways of playing with the viewer. Hugo looks at a selection of films from the genre’s history, including Memento, Being John Malkovich, Jacob’s Ladder, Inception, and Last Year at Marienbad, exploring how filmmakers can turn uncertainty into a cinematic experience.

About the speakers:

Hugo Emmerzael is a film critic, curator, and programmer. He writes for Filmkrant, MUBI Notebook, Filmmaker Magazine, and Little White Lies, and has curated the Forum of the Directors at the Netherlands Film Festival since 2020. He works for Locarno Film Festival and has served on juries at Cannes, Venice, and Karlovy Vary.

Please note that this lecture will be presented in English.