Ivan Ladislav Galeta 1947-2014

"Water-Pulu, another truly great film, uses found footage of a water polo match to extraordinary effect. Again using an optical printer, Galeta keeps the ball centre frame at all times, allowing the action to lurch and flow around this fixed point. The abstraction of the surrounding movement is accentuated by the superimposition of the image on top of itself three times, with a very short delay. The range of associations this visually mesmerising work generates is never less than surprising, from the apparent Impressionist sunset that the opening freeze frame suggests to the solar significance the ball again assumes in relation to the dynamically granular universe that surrounds it."

The above is an extract from a report I wrote on The Experimental Forum of the 2008 Thessaloniki Film Festival, programmed by Vassily Bourikas. It featured a full retrospective of Galeta's films introduced by the artist in person. Both the work and Galeta's remarkable graciousness as a human being left a lasting impression.