09:54
2023
Location : Institut Français du Caire
Date – Time : 12/5/2024 7-9pm
“Jalal, last night, I had a dream about our film.” “Which film?” “The one we are working on these days.” “Hong Kong, China, Solaris?” “Yes.” Can one have a dream where one’s deepest, unconscious wishes are fulfilled by Solaris or a Solaris equivalent, the extraterrestrial hyperintelligent sentient ocean of Tarkovsky’s film Solaris that fulfills such wishes? Yes, if one’s meta-wish is to have one’s unconscious wishes fulfilled in the manner Solaris does that rather than in the manner dreams do it (through such mechanisms as condensation and displacement). One should bear in mind though that, since dreams are wish fulfillments, Solaris or a Solaris equivalent would end up making one unable to dream, an insomniac, since it would render dreams superfluous. By dreaming about Solaris or a Solaris equivalent one would be dreaming about a place where one cannot dream, where there are no dreams.