Zeno Writing is the latest, most complex, and psychologically jarring of Kentridge's fllm projects. Based on the classic 1923 Italian novel Confessions of Zeno by Italo Svevo, the work combines all of his approaches to image making--the animation of charcoal drawings and torn paper puppets, smoke and archival film footage--with a haunting musical score by Kevin Volans and a libretto by Jane Taylor. The film portrays Zeno, a guilt-ridden figure in psychoanalysis, as he wrestles ith his demons, including smoking and adultery. Kentridge compares the isolation and despair of Zeno's home city of Trieste, Italy, after World War I, with his own, Johannesburg, South Africa, in the 1980s. Zeno Writing was premiered at the major forum of international art, Documenta XI, in 2002.

Source: NEWS July August September 2003