Fiction and Documentary 5
The six short films in "Fiction and Documentary 5" invite you to chart and discover the world. We follow a Vietnamese through Sixties’ Europe, accompany Israeli watchmen on Independence Day and dance with youths in Ohio whose only ray of hope is a circus school. Iran and Madagascar are on the list of destinations as well as Gran Canaria. In the film-pool found footage splashes about with elaborately produced animated films – a small but all the more impressive trip around the world from the cinema seat.
Total length: 81 min
Zaneh Bolhavas (Capricious Woman)
Iran 2008, 5 min, DV-Cam
Director: Hamideh Razavi | Producer: Mehrdad Tabatabai | Cinematographer: Hamid Ahamadi Ara | Editing: Bahman Kiarostami
A tangible materiality, shaking and vibrating in the wind, takes up all the space, from one end of the screen to the other. We hear traffic noise, but the husk remains the absolutely demure visual appeal that channels one’s view to the inside. Hamideh Razavi works in just one unedited take, gentle demystification awaits us at the end. On to pastures new!
Ha'Modedim (Mapping)
Israel 2007, 15 min, DigiBeta
Director/Screenwriter: Asaf Saban | Producer: Ilan Jarzina | Cinematographer: Ron Haimov | Sound: Einat Erez, Eran Granot, Yula Gidron, John Avishay | Editing: Avigail Breitstein | Cast: Yusef Abu Warda, Ami Weinberg
Two land surveyors are at work at the dividing wall to Palestinian regions; in this desert they are waiting for the signal for a planned moment’s silence to commemorate all soldiers killed in action. It is an absurd reality that surrounds both surveyors in Asaf Saban’s film, but the past is not cast off easily. There goes the siren...
Destination Finale
Germany 2008, 9 min, BetaSP
Director/Screenwriter/Editing: Philip Widmann | Producers: Philip Widmann, Gerd Roscher | Cinematographer: unknown
An Asian clad in a well fitted suit moves through the every day hustle and bustle of Western cities. His vehement presence implicates questions that remain unanswered. After 40 years the film exposures from 1964 were rediscovered, edited and given a new soundtrack. A generation leap as a unique dialectic.
In the Air
USA 2009, 22 min, HDCAM
Director/Producer: Liza Johnson | Cinematographer: Anne Etheridge | Editing: Paul Zucker | Cast: Daphany Bauer, Lee Brown, April Hobbes
In this film that is half socio-critical documentary and half exaggerated fiction, Liza Johnson, a filmmaker who grew up in Ohio, portrays her home town and its inhabitants with plenty of empathy. April works at a scrap yard, Daphany is employed at a fast food restaurant, Lee is still in school. Their glimmers of hope are the hours spent at a circus school. An extraordinary dance film.
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)
France 2009, 12 min, 35 mm
Director/Screenwriter: Bastien Dubois | Producers: Ron Dyens, Aurélia Prévieu | Sound: Cyrille Lauwerier | Editing: Boubkar Benzabat, Bastien Dubois
A European tourist’s shimmering travel journal transports us to Madagascar. The mix of classic illustrations and innovative elements of 3D-animation makes for atmospheric images laden with detail. Bastien Dubois allows us to dive into the local culture, religious rites and traditional customs.
Wo ich bin ist oben (I Am Always on Top)
Germany 2010, 18 min, 35 mm
Director/Cinematographer/Editing: Bettina Schoeller | Production: depoetica | Cast: Tilly Beine, Reinhild Schoeller, Bettina Schoeller
Three women on holiday in Gran Canaria: grandmother, daughter and granddaughter radiate plenty of touristic charm on the Canary Island. The personal holiday video by Bettina Schöller becomes an amusing portrait of generations, as well as an incomparable reflection of her grandmother. A classy, lively documentary.