Je Vous Salue (I Salute You)
2025
2 min 4 sec (each)
Video
2025
2 min 4 sec (each)
Video
Je Vous Salue, Sarajevo (I Salute You, Sarajevo), created in 1993, is a short video by Jean-Luc Godard offering a poetic reflection on the Balkan war. Ahmet Öğüt revisits and reinterprets Godard’s work through a series of adaptations, each dedicated to a different struggle. His reinterpretation centers on Ron Haviv’s haunting photograph of a member of the Arkan Tigers kicking a Bosnian civilian in Bijeljina. In each version, Öğüt retains Godard’s original voiceover and text, introducing subtle interventions through editing and voice cloning.
The first in the series integrates elements from a 2015 photograph by Jack Shahine, taken in Rojava. In Shahine’s image, a woman removes her black burka to reveal a vibrant dress underneath—an act symbolizing her newfound freedom.
The second in the series integrates a still from a video captured during a pro-Palestine protest in Berlin. The image depicts a young protester being forcibly restrained by a police officer while her mother kisses her arm, offering love and support in the face of brutality.
Through this juxtaposition, Öğüt extends Godard’s reflection on war and liberation, layering past and present struggles into a single visual and sonic experience.
The first in the series integrates elements from a 2015 photograph by Jack Shahine, taken in Rojava. In Shahine’s image, a woman removes her black burka to reveal a vibrant dress underneath—an act symbolizing her newfound freedom.
The second in the series integrates a still from a video captured during a pro-Palestine protest in Berlin. The image depicts a young protester being forcibly restrained by a police officer while her mother kisses her arm, offering love and support in the face of brutality.
Through this juxtaposition, Öğüt extends Godard’s reflection on war and liberation, layering past and present struggles into a single visual and sonic experience.
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