Klonaris/Thomadaki: Double Labyrinthe

Although consciously placed at the intersection of two great traditions, that of the ritual filmmakers (S. M. Eisenstein, Maya Deren, Kenneth Anger...) and that, less abundant, of the women filmmakers and visual artists (Germaine Dulac, Maya Deren again, Carolee Schneemann...), the work of Maria Klonaris and Katerina Thomadaki is unlike any other. Completely driven by a study of the body’s representation, it has devised brilliant aesthetic means and produced numerous theoretical tools to visually express their critical and affirmative philosophy.
-Nicole Brenez

These two artists, these two women, produced the concept of ‘a double author’, which is, to my knowledge, unique. [...] Double Labyrinth as the crucible and first instance of their work together provides a beautiful figuration of how the politics of method, the creative double, inflected the poetics of its imagery, the women’s bodies and their expressivity.
-Laura Mulvey

In their films they tackle the question of the femininity of images and of women in images, a major question when you consider the role of women in the history of images or in the history of painting. However, for them, what is at stake is not building femininity in opposition to masculinity or virility, but discovering the pure otherness at the core of what is feminine. Beginning with what are considered feminist themes, they end up with a broader theme, which is strictly and radically political and which is the question of the Other.
-Marie José Mondzain

Double Labyrinthe’s minimal yet complex aesthetics launched Klonaris/Thomadaki’s “Cinéma corporel.” The impact of the film on the experimental film scenes of the time, both in Paris and London, was such, that it actually helped to transform them. Its “radical femininity” trail blazed new dimensions in feminist film practice and theory, which to this day appear as innovative as in 1976. This landmark film holds a singular place next to such gems as Meshes of the Afternoon, Fuses or Jeanne Dielman.
-Cécile Alex Chich

FILMS
DOUBLE LABYRINTHE, 1975-1976, 50mins
LA TORTURE, 1976/2012, 15mins
FLASH PASSION, 1970, 2mins
3.VIl. 1973, 1971, 6mins
SMOKING, 1976/2016, 4mins