Proust lu: The Conference by Véronique Aubouy

In 1993, Veronique Aubouy began putting strangers in front of her camera to read Proust’s masterpiece À la recherche du temps perdu. Since it is an adaptation of the longest novel ever written (according to the Guinness Book of World Records), the film remains a work in progress. This lecture will offer a glimpse into the creative process behind this mammoth undertaking as well a chance to watch excerpts from the film.

Over the past two decades, Aubouy has asked various readers—both anonymous and famous—to read aloud sections of the novel in front of her camera. Though she follows the chronology of the text, she leaves to readers the choice of place, decor and staging. Singular object in the cinematographic landscape, this unfinished film is an autobiography, a mosaic of portraits and an expression of a period. Proust lu questions time and offers a diversity of perceptions, intimate, universal, past, and current. As of now, the project represents 116 hours, 22 years, and 1,200 readers and the film is expected to be finished around 2050.

For this event, Aubouy will share anecdotes, events and stories that have occurred over the past 22 years of filming. She will also screen excerpts of the film (in French, without subtitles) and share some pieces of the performance and the book she developed from her experience with the film project.

This event is $10 for French Cultural Center members, Boston Athenæum members and students with a valid school ID

General admission is $15