''Angoroj'' (''Agonies'') is a 1964 film. It is the first
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
to be produced entirely in
Esperanto. It was directed and produced by Jacques-Louis Mahé, a friend of
Raymond Schwartz
Raymond Schwartz (8 April 1894 – 14 May 1973) was a French banker and Esperanto author who wrote many poems and novels in Esperanto, as well as skits which he directed for Parisian Esperanto cabarets.
Biography
Schwartz was born into a Frenc ...
who, under the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
'Lorjak', had previously produced a silent Esperanto publicity film before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
titled ''Antaŭen!'' (''Onwards!'').
Overview
At the start of the 1960s Mahé, a professional
photographic
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
and cinematic expert, invested in the production of the first fictional film in Esperanto. Using a scenario by Mahé himself, the actors of the Internacia Arta Teatro (International Arts Theatre) presented a
crime story, set in the
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
ian periphery of petty thieves and cheats. Other notable people who played parts in the film included
Schwartz (the commissioner),
Gaston Waringhien (the voice-over) and many from the environs of the contemporary Paris, including
Michel Duc-Goninaz.
Production
The film was produced from 1963 to 1964, but the market did not react favourably. Mahé, who lost a large sum of money, accused
Universala Esperanto-Asocio of a boycott. At the highest point of his depression, he destroyed almost all copies: only two remain (acquired eventually by the
Château de Grésillon and the
British Esperanto Association, both already used) as well as the original, which
LF-koop (Kooperativo de Literatura Foiro) rescued in 1991, distributing a 61-minute
videotape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocasse ...
.
See also
*''
Incubus
An incubus is a demon in male form in folklore that seeks to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. In medieval Europe, union with an incubus was supposed by some to result in t ...
''
External links
*{{IMDb title, id=0229990, title=Angoroj
French crime drama films
Esperanto-language films
1964 films
Esperanto in France
ca:Angoroj