Idem Paris

Ready to have your mind blown? Don’t answer that, but instead consider this question: What would a documentary about a Parisian lithographic printing press directed by David Lynch be like? Lynch, the notorious director of such cinematic classics/oddities as Eraserhead, Twin Peaks, and The Elephant Man has never been an easy man to pigeon-hole when it comes to his creative output. Even with that caveat, he’s probably one of the last people you might except to turn his lens on the clattering, inky majesty of an old school lithographic press.

The film, no more than eight minutes long, is shot in black and white, and features no dialogue or music, just the whispering of rollers and clanking of mechanical assemblies. It shows a group of printers setting up a fine art print, running test copies, then adjusting the press based on that output and the experience of their craft. In many ways it is a meditation on the fact that as printers we must first fail repeatedly to achieve repeatable success. Enjoy.