Claire Pijman & Robby Müller: la dimensione del “given footage” nel riuso fotofilmico

This essay explores how documentary "Living the Light - Robby Müller" by Claire Pijman (2018) enters the found footage practice and the archival experience. Identified by the monumental material Pjiman is given by Dutch cinematographer Robby Müller and his wife, "Living the Light" may then be defined as result of a “given footage” practice of filmmaking which intends to preserve and maintain the source material. Claire Pijman, who declares herself custodian of the never-before seen footage Müller shot and recorded offstage and off-duty throughout his life, faithfully return the “given footage” at her disposal by showing us videotapes, photographs, home videos, and Polaroids as they are, nearly «perfect left alone». While "Living the Light" turns out to be an essay film by Pijman about a diary film by Müller, we also experience his cinematography style and legacy through movie sequences off his filmography. Ultimately, this essay traces how the documentary about a man born to the image, devoted to it, and obsessed with it, connects Müller’s own footage to a highly theoretical and cultural framework.