Iâm happy to finally share some extracts of a film I made last year (2025) ; itâs called âBright Exitsâ and it loosely traces the internal perception of an abduction - whether real or dreamed - a journey through a consciousness marked by constant attempts to escape itself. This work is also a bridge between two cities (Berlin and Los Angeles) ; a life/path transition I made last year - from Germany/France to South California - so as to pursue my studies (@calarts ) and research. Below are two extracts from a short text Anna Graham wrote on the film :
âMathilde Heuliezâs film Bright Exits unfolds in a series of occluded, surreal events depicting a womanâs abduction. The film spools out in fragmented scenes that depict the recognizable, every-day landscape of Los Angeles through an askew perspective, subverting the well-tread and familiarly dramatized genre of police dramas.â
âInstead of narrative linearity, Bright Exits maintains an emphasis on the instability of dissociation, eschewing clarity or discernable plot. The abduction acts as a means of expressing the fractured consciousness and out of body existence of the main character. We see our character at the beach, seemingly before the abduction, through an uncanny, first-person view of herself while watching the sea through a partially submerged, blurred lens. Later, when we see her in a basement room with her abductor, the view is similarly distorted, full of trailing colors and accompanied by the manâs muffled voice. It is thus within reason that we see fireworks curling back in on themselves in slow motion and the abductor breaking into song before we are snapped back into the reality of slowing traffic, flashing red lights, and a sobering siren.â
(Full text in a link in bio)
Thank you to everyone who helped in the process of making and finishing that film !
@lisalagova@gian.and.dre@victorvillafagne@bryony_jean@mr.michaelrobinson@geraldheuliez@heuliezsonia@amgraham_@constanzacastagnet
And thanks to the people, venues and organizations who screened the film so far !! @drewgebhardt with #filmhistoryIII @kunstkneipe_schmetterling@cursed_sally_rooney_character@ditcherseddy@trove_watch
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The nose video was made with @mathildehlz
Itâs about the naturally psychedelic process of shuckling/davening (prayer movement). The video was made in preparation for Sukkot last year (Jewish festival of the harvest). The track is also titled hitbodedut. This is a term describing a sudden spontaneous individual prayer or meditation - like a walk through the woods, or an acid flashbackâŠ.
It aims to highlight both the psychedelic nature of Jewish prayer, particularly in relation to its relationship to nature - and the significance of the sukkah (booth built to be slept under during the seven days of the festival). Under diasporic circumstances, it would be antisocial to be sleeping within nature for a week, so this video helps me ask the question - what are the others ways we can find spiritual shelter in places inhospitable?
@mathildehlz âs work is great - she plays with the boundaries of first person perspectives really well - bending between what is on each side of reality. I particularly was taken by her works cell and cove (you should go watch cell on her website).
The prayer at the beginning of the track is a Sukkot blessing - Mizrahi style (North Africa) - it is recited by Mizmor Ldavid.
You can watch the video for âthe noseâ on YouTube (link in bio)
A couple of weeks ago I made this short video for an editing class Iâm following. It started as a visual experimentation and turned into an homage/interpretation of the Cicciolinaâs (Ilona Staller) political performances, both on and outside the stage
