Summer Exhibition with my Cinematography Work

Less than a year back, I was helping out in a funny last minute action Friedrich-Wilhelm Backhaus to create a video-art piece to be screened in the veranda-patio type area in front of his studio.

This year, helped by his kind suggestion,  I am invited as a guest artist to show some of my work in the studio complex Alte Wiedefabrik in Munich during their summer exhibition running from the 2nd till the 5th of July 2009 .

The Wiedefabrik built in 1928  to produce Acetylen gives currently working space to over well established 25 artists. They open their doors twice a year to show their recent work.

Old beautifully renovated buildings with climbers creeping all over those walls are huddled around winding pepplestone paths, flowering fruit trees and not to forget a cafe with regional specialities and more.

The exhibition is open daily from early afternoon till night, live music Friday/Saturday.

Rodicas’

Almost a week ago I got back from shooting with Alice Gruia the “Rodicas’ “.

Alice. My Director.

A documentary about two 87 and 82 year old ladies living for the last 30 years in Australia, having passed both several countries before that.

Rodica Odette and Rodica Ramira, both descendants of Jewish families, left Romania after the war, having to start over again in their early twenties in new countries, learning new languages.

One Rodica lived with her German husband in Uruguay for years. Her kids are were born and bread there. she still speaks Spanish to them. Sometimes strange and antique sounding German words like “Sitzfleisch” flood in to the conversation at her family table and flock around the English Romanian Spanish mix. She is the younger one of the two friends. Bubbly, bustling, lively. She never drinks water. Believes in Tarrot reading and future telling. She’s still working. For the last years only part time, she apologizes.

The other Rodica rings her friend every morning. She went to Germany, following her son. Worked as a teacher and struggled for almost two years, to get her papers in post war Germany, with still to many antisemitic people around in the 50ies.  She is a true lady. Stylish from tip to toe. Sport every day. Composed, reasonable, considered, perfect. She does get emotional about politics. Loves Obama, watches the news every day. With her friend she discusses only “things necessary and important” she claims.

They met playing bridge. And have been friends ever since. 30 years and on.

Together they are like humming flinging swinging teenage girls. Gossip, laugh, dance, drink. Age seems to be a unnoticed unimportant little fluff they easily brush off their tone in tone girlie dream world they are living in.

The true 16 is 86… approximately.

“I have never been so happy as int he last twenty years of my life” Rodica says.

“You give me all this Gin Tonic to drink. Can you hear what stupid things it makes me say?” she adds and laughs.

The Rodicas'.

They probably had fun.

We certainly had fun.

My friend @ Cannes

I am in Sydney with two Ladies both named Rodica and will let you know more soon, but first have a look at this….what a small world…

Tina, from my previous post, wrote an article about our friend Shane, the film “The Band”, I shot, her adventures in Cannes presenting her own 3D movie and our friendship for a quite large German Feuilleton: “Die Welt Online” culture section … follow the link…

It is all German, but who would not want to use an online translator to read an article titled: “Canned Beer at Closing Time”…

The Band @ Cannes Festival

By a lovely note from  Tina Kinne, a director of mine, I found out quite surprisingly that “The Band”, which I shot in Melbourne in 2006 and which was directed by my friend Anna Brownfield,  is screening in Cannes Film Festival!

Tina wrote:

“Just watched by coincidence “The Band” – amazing movie … congratulations&respect.“

Did she say this to make me blush or coz she liked it? Hm…maybe I should hold another competition to solve this question…

Anyway: Thank you Tina!!
Check  for more screenings during the festival here.

“Das Geheime Kino” screening in Munich

A lovely film I shot is screening in Munich. “Das geheime Kino” by Michael Wolf.

A documentary with narrative elements and some archival footage woven through the story of an exploitation film club quite brilliantly.

On the 27th of May @ Rationaltheater Munich.

Screening together with “Kontamination by Michael Wolf shot by Namche Okon.

Dubai Shopping Surrealism

On the way to Australia you come past the new Terminal 3 in Dubai Airport.

Artificial waterfalls 60 meters wide, LED lights in translucent walls, 12 freely hanging elevators in a row zooming up and down in a speed you might develop a vertigo from it. Via approximately 82 shiny and illuminated escalators you are spat in to a mall reminding you the unique Dubai festival calendar who offers to its international guests not only a arts and film, but as well a l shopping festival running each year for a week or so.

Plus electricity everywhere with international plugs to charge all your electric personalities gadgets and free wireless all over the place an: air condition.

Very Middle Eastern than the fact that the shimmering shiny multimedia charge towers are mostly not plugged in to the house power system and: there is no plug near to connect the orphan little whitish cables hanging like lonely worms out of the towers.

This all might sound gossipy – but I must say I am deeply impressed and can not help it even though I can see the quite shallowly filled emptiness behind the façade.

A bit of a Potemkinish experience.

My most beloved person – of all people who want to be millionaires I know, should stop working right now, convert to Islam, grow a beard and marry a girl from Dubai – becoming a millionaire problem solved.

How much do I love architecture shots with shaky elements in them!

Mein großer linker Zeh

How would you translate this in to English? “My great left Toe”? , “My large left Toe”? “Big”? “Tall”? Wide, heavy, biggish, long, fat???

Pretty hard to translate a name of a film about a man who is different, coz he is spezial and: he has a …very…different left toe problem.

In the lovely Wasserburg  near Munich we are shooting a feature film about Bruno,  a man with slightly autistic behaviour, who appears suddenly in the small town at the Inn river and stirs up the locals.

Carlos Methfessel joined us today as a stills photographer and took this photograph of our lead, Gregory B. Waldis.

Find the Award…

Especially for my friend Jaromir Zezula, here a little hide-and-seek:

Find the Award – it is a large sculpture and should be not to hard to spot in my rather not so large place.

Enter the competition by leaving a comment with a description of the place, you spotted in the picture as the location of the award. The winner who comments on all four found locations first gets a choice of either one of those:

A – beer with Sanne including evening entertainment

B – beer without Sanne including evening peace and silence

C – 3 German Euros cash price

Please ad with your submissen in the comments section the award you wish for spotting the award…have fun!!

You did not really…

…think I would put here a photograph of the cinematography award??

Dortmund has no Curry Sausage.

The screening was lovely. The DP, who shot the film, that won the documentary section cinematography award is divine. Her film “Der, Die, Das”, I loved. The image of Germany, it draws, made me very sad. Seven year old kids being asked “Where do you come from?” – and they answer, that they don’t know. The teacher persists: “Think about it, where are your parents born? Your grandparents?” Most kids come from Bosnia, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, a black kid from Holland AND Turkey, the entire globe in one classroom. In the end they all know “I am born in Berlin, but…” … but… the not-really-from-here-word… but…”…but my grandparents are from Poland”, “…but my mum speaks at home Turkish to me.”

They don’t understand. One kid answers: “My Brother is born in Germany, but I am from Berlin.” Kids are great, no? Anne Misselwitz used a Fig Rig and very long lenses in her very beautiful observational style to go with those Berlin primary school kids through their first year at school  in this long-term documentary.

I feel like an alien coming from clean neat nice Munich. watching this film, being in Dortmund. We have the 5,80 Designer Curry Sausage at Bergwolf in porcelain take-away look-alike dishes.

Many satellite antennas here suggest behind all those closed curtains must be many Turkish families. Grey facades, Dortmund being a Ruhrstadt, a city in the Ruhr area confirms there must be many foreign workers, who once dug stone coal out of German soil. Workers who brought their families and their amazing food. And workers who love cheap German sausage, like our ex-chancellors Schroeders favourite dish, the Curry Sausage.

But…

…but they are hiding out today.

I will leave my lovely tiny hotel room and go stroll explore.

I am a bit sad I did not take my camera.

I am very happy this festival is such a nice one.

I am very curious to see my award tomorrow night.

Is it a sign, for me being scattered, or at least for my brain being, that I put this post in six out of seven categories?

And:

Is it a hellish problem or god send gift and blessing I am scattered?