• 13 years ago
British filmmaker Ken McMullen's improvisational, non-linear film, 'Ghost Dance' (1983) concerns itself with various 'ghosts' (e.g., Kafka, Marx, Freud) and the issue of memory (the past) and how it functions in the present ... French philosopher Jacques Derrida plays 'himself' in the film and comments upon ghosts as they pertain to cinema and representation itself ... cinema, for Derrida, 'is the art of ghosts' and he regards himself - as portrayed in the film - as yet another ghost in whom he 'believes' ... modern technology (specifically, telecommunications), he says, instead of vanquishing ghosts, actually multiplies them ... however this is not necessarily negative - its quite the opposite - 'long live the ghosts!' he exclaims near the end of the clip ... the late Pascale Ogier plays 'Pascale' who is questioning Derrida ...