“Black April” by William Stancik

“Black April” is a short film that takes time to fully assimilate and understand. At first glance, there is a feeling of profound disturbance and fascination, coming from every element of the narration and staging. Stancik’s directorial vision moves with a “secret” coherence in an attempt to give us back deep and cryptic suggestions. The film has a strong identity and every aspect of the mise en scene integrates with the others. In this evocative combination of expressions, it is never possible to know which element a certain emotion comes from. This also contributes to the construction of that attractive chaos that underlies the film. A mystery that harbors in the depths of the soul, destined to expand like fog and subvert habits, after being hatched in memories.

Stancik’s direction evidently has a strong intimate connection with the story told. Each image seems to become a symbol, in an obsessive and attractive recombination of reality in codes that cannot be understood. It is not possible to untie the stylistic form from the content of this work. The narration of “Black April” proceeds exactly like a mechanism, in which the shape of the elements is functional to its reason. In this show, the spectator is absorbed in a path of undoubted wonder, sometimes disturbing, sometimes upsetting. Stancik is an author who pursues his own path and is absolutely worth knowing.