Paper short abstract:

The last resort of an eccentric Czech ex-pat artist, living out a psychedelic fantasy of animistic beliefs and exotic spirituality by an Indian beach, with her animal family? Or, sustainable eco-spiritual micro-society? An experimental collaborative representation of Renata’s world. 51' film and 15’ filmmaker-led discussion

Paper long abstract:

Renata's Family: the last resort of an eccentric Czech ex-pat artist, living out a psychedelic fantasy of animistic beliefs and exotic spirituality by an Indian beach with her animal family? Or, sustainable eco-spiritual micro-society?

Czechoslovakian born Renata gave up a high-flying, high risk lifestyle of international contraband over 12 years ago, choosing instead to settle by a beach in Goa, India, where she discovered her artistic talents. She believes that her grandmother's spirit inhabits her canine companion, Pepinka, in order to help her through life. Pepinka's offspring and add-ons now number 21, comprising, along with 5 chickens and one small cat, Renata's family. Having cultivated a close material and spiritual relationship with her organic environment over the years, Renata fulfils much of the family's needs with natural materials available immediately around her. She supplements this free supply using her psychedelic fluorescent paintings as goods for exchange through social networks including other ex-pats, tourists and Goans. Generally harmonious, occasionally chaotic, and often comical, the low-tech life of Renata's family challenges notions of civilisation and reality.

This collaborative film is an experimental representation of Renata's world, incorporating Renata's aesthetics, also portrayed in the form and content of her art, and her filmic ideas, which emerged as she became more aware of the potentials of the medium. Her life in Goa provides a window on a cosmopolitan local context and a wider global one, and as such is integral to my PhD research.

51' film and 15’ filmmaker-led discussion