New short film: Allégorie Citadine

In the allegory of the cave, Plato asks: what would happen if one of the prisoners managed to free himself from his chains and escape from the cave? And what if that prisoner was Jay, a 7-year-old boy?

Four years after Omelia Contadina, JR and Alice Rohrwacher presented their new short film Allégorie Citadine at the Venice Film Festival in early September.

The film was conceived as a fable extending the Retour à la Caverne project, led by JR on the façade of the Paris Opera in autumn 2023, and more specifically Chiroptera, the performance created by JR, Damien Jalet and Thomas Bangalter.

Alice Rohrwacher and JR talk about the origins of the film:

“What lies behind the everyday movement of a city? Last winter, we met in Paris and started talking about the allegory of the cave, recounted in Plato's Republic. The myth imagines humanity living in chains, staring into the depths of a cave and watching shadows move across the walls, believing them to be reality.

We both work with images, which can be illusions, but can also become an instrument of struggle and liberation of thought. So, based on this discussion, we decided to create a short film. We had a few fixed ideas - the cave, the dance, the city bustling around us - and a question: what would happen if we all managed to turn around and walk out of the cave together? Perhaps it's not enough to assert that images are illusions as long as the chains that bind us are real.”