claire rousay — The Bloody Lady (film concert)

Viktor Kubal (1923-1997) is the father of Slovak animated film. In 1980, he released the trippy animated classic The Bloody Lady (original title: Krvavá Pani). The film was based on the lurid folk tale about Elisabeth Bathory, a 16th-century Slovak noblewoman accused of murdering hundreds of girls and women. The reason for her killing spree: hoping to stay eternally young, she is said to have literally bathed in their blood. According to some historians, she is one of the first known serial killers in history, but others see her conviction as an unjustified witch hunt. Moreover, it is rumoured that Bathory was the inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (1897). Commissioned by VIDEODROOM/Film Fest Gent 2023, American composer claire rousay created a brand new soundtrack - exactly 100 years after Kubal's birth. Rousay is known for her emotional carpets of sound in which she mixes acoustic instruments such as cello and piano with electronic sounds and field recordings, incorporating many details from everyday life such as voicemails or vague background conversations. Her soundtrack for The Bloody Lady was recently released on the VIERNULVIER label.

+ Introduction: Rastislav Steranka (Slovak Film Institute) & Wouter Vanhaelemeesch (VIERNULVIER/Videodrome)

This filmconcert was commissioned by Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER and Film Festival Gent for the Videodroom series. Special thanks to Slovak Film Institute.