Laura Alcoba's 'Minuit à bord' traces Benjamin Fondane's lost film in Argentina
Laura Alcoba's novel 'Minuit à bord' (Gallimard) investigates the mystery of 'Tararira', a film shot in Argentina in 1936 by Benjamin Fondane (born Benjamin Wechsler in Romania), a poet and philosopher passionate about silent cinema who intended to make an 'absurd' film but never released it. The narrative unfolds from the Hôtel du Belvédère, a concrete ocean liner-like building in the French Pyrenees near the Spanish border, where Alcoba, during a writer's residency, opens her 'Fondane suitcase' of collected materials. Fondane died in deportation in 1944. The book is published by Gallimard. Alcoba was interviewed by Nathalie Amar on RFI. The podcast also features Catherine Fruchon-Toussaint discussing Guillaume Musso's new novel 'Le Crime du Paradis' (Calmann-Levy), a homage to Agatha Christie set in the 1930s on the Côte d'Azur with a young novelist named Agatha.
Key facts
- Laura Alcoba's novel 'Minuit à bord' explores the lost film 'Tararira' by Benjamin Fondane.
- The film was shot in Argentina in 1936.
- Benjamin Fondane was born Benjamin Wechsler in Romania.
- Fondane was a poet and philosopher interested in silent cinema.
- He intended to make an 'absurd' film but it was never released.
- Alcoba wrote the novel during a residency at Hôtel du Belvédère in the French Pyrenees.
- The Hôtel du Belvédère is a concrete building near the Spanish border.
- Fondane died in deportation in 1944.
- The book is published by Éditions Gallimard.
- Alcoba was interviewed on RFI by Nathalie Amar.
- The podcast also covers Guillaume Musso's 'Le Crime du Paradis' (Calmann-Levy).
- Musso's novel is set in the 1930s on the Côte d'Azur and features a young novelist named Agatha.
Entities
Artists
- Laura Alcoba
- Benjamin Fondane
- Benjamin Wechsler
- Guillaume Musso
- Agatha Christie
- Catherine Fruchon-Toussaint
- Nathalie Amar
Institutions
- Éditions Gallimard
- Calmann-Levy
- RFI
Locations
- Argentina
- Hôtel du Belvédère
- French Pyrenees
- Spain
- Côte d'Azur
- Romania