BEAUTIFUL PRISON is an experimental art history documentary exploring the decade Man Ray spent in Hollywood exile after fleeing Nazi-occupied Paris. The film imagines the legendary Surrealist recording his memoir into a tape recorder and reliving his memories of being trapped between his worldwide fame as a photographer and his longing to be recognized as a painter.
Conceived as a 1940s-style radio play where the narrative can be followed through audio alone, the film's visual language is a modern Surrealist collage: original lens-based documentary footage and historical archival films are woven together with synthetic sequences, achieved by syncing AI-generated animations directly to real actors' pre-recorded performances.
color/b&w video, 43 min. 39 sec.
Magica Cinematheque
Museum of Contemporary Art MSUV, Novi Sad, Serbia