Wolfgang Mattheuer, together with Bernhard Heisig and Werner Tübke, is one of the main protagonists of the Leipzig School. With works such as Behind the Seven Mountains (1973) the graphic artist, painter and sculptor is one of the most controversial and yet most celebrated artists of the former GDR. With the use of mythology, literary references, and ambiguous details, he subverted the ideological edicts of the system. This film presents the great works of this reserved, yet perceptive ‘picture maker’. An insightful interview with Mattheuer introduces us to his eclectic visual world and his metaphorical response to contemporary events and the GDR regime.
Frans Hals (1582-1666) was a portrait painter with a unique style, admired for its originality and vivacity not only by the Impressionists but also by artists like van Gogh or Picasso. Very little documentation of his life exists today, so this film uses the thorough contemplation of his canvases as the key to his story. Works by the landscape artists and still-life painters of his time help to illustrate the age in which he lived. The film furthermore exemplifies the elaborate conventions of portraiture at the time.
Painter and government official – the two sides of Willi Sitte which made him the most important yet most controversial East German artist. Portraying the working class, defying imperialism or revealing intimate togetherness, he became the leading figure of Socialist Realism. His career in the Association of Fine Artists (VBK) and the Central Committee (ZK) of the SED elevated his status to that of ‘Prince of East German Painting’. Reiner Moritz met the controversial, first-rate draughtsman in his studio after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Through his life and work, he traces the story of Sitte’s artistic development in the service of socialist ideology.
The Schwitters scandal was pure DADA! While he was alive, Schwitters provoked the art world with his one-man Dada movement Merz, which united painting, sculpture, architecture and literature in fragments. After his death he hit the headlines due to several sensational inheritance lawsuits involving his heirs, a mistress, the Norwegian government, and the Marlborough Gallery - which had gained notoriety in the Rothko scandal. Looking back on Schwitters’ life and work, this film unravels a bizarre story of deceit, intrigue, power and money.
Step right up into the world of Werner Tübke! The painter and illustrator from Leipzig created fantastical imagery, replete with virtuosity and a love of storytelling. In the style of the old masters, he transformed the everyday and the political into something that transcends time, and in that way developed his own distinct, anachronistic viewpoint. As a co-founder of the Leipziger Schule, Tübke paved the way for a figurative art, which has earned him international recognition since the 1970s. Reiner E. Moritz met with the GDR’s extravagant prince of painting in his studio and accompanied him at work on his showpiece, the German Peasants' War panorama in Bad Frankenhausen.
The tallest building on the west coast was recently completed in one of the most seismically active zones in the world, Aspire to the Sky: The Wilshire Grand Story.
In the mists of war and violence, the Harlequin, trumpet in hand, drifts through ravaged landscape passing a cripple and a marionette: Bernhard Heisig's pictorial worlds shock the viewer by depicting the great dramas of German history. Both a victim and a perpetrator in World War II and in the GDR dictatorship, the artist's search for sense and truth led him to his moving image formulas. Director Reiner E. Moritz converses with the renowned ex-principal of the Leipzig Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (Academy of Visual Arts) about his work, which influenced the development of art for many decades in the rigid GDR system.
More recently, in the middle of the last century, a group of enthusiasts began to develop a sport unique to Russia: water skiing. Very quickly, riding on the water behind the boat became popular: tricks became more complicated, new champions appeared. And a few decades later, water skiing was replaced by modern wakeboarding — with its own unique path and bright characters.
Norman Foster (b.1935) is widely considered to be one of the world's greatest living architects. He has offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Berlin, Glasgow and London. While other international practices have succumbed to commercial pressures, Foster has retained a reputation for innovation and originality. He is also highly respected for his flair when adapting or converting older buildings to present-day needs. His designs are always rooted in his concern for minimal environmental damage and maximum technological efficiency. This film follows Foster at work in his office and on the site of some of his major new projects, including the Law Faculty at Cambridge University and the telecommunications tower in Santiago de Compostela. Foster is a man driven by his passion for architecture and his perfectionism. This portrait reveals not only his genius, but also his highly sensitive and artistic personality.
Under Darkness is a poetic, video collage incorporating stop motion animation. This video explores ideas behind the theme of Insomnia. Filmed after dark, the multiple layering of images and sound draws the viewer into the unsettling emotional world of the insomniac. The words and text are based on a Poem about insomnia by Rebecca Goldthorpe.
Agnes and Qing are Hong Kong's representative rhythmic swimming athletes. They have swept the pairs event awards since childhood. Unexpectedly, an epidemic brought the world to a standstill and caused a sudden change in their relationship. Agnes found that she had different emotions and could not get rid of the desire for Qing's body. To escape her desire, she even had sex with her pursuer Amin. As her life becomes more chaotic, she is deprived of her qualifications for the main election. Watching Qing practice a pas de deux with others, Agnes becomes jealous and discovers that she not only did not love Amin, she didn't enjoy sex with him. Agnes returned to practice, hoping to regain her body pride, but without a swimming pool and close friends, she couldn't dance the pas de deux. When they were unable to jump down, Qing appeared like a gift, and the two climbed into the pool without water.
A scriptwriter, struggling in her ordinary world, suddenly enters a special world where everything changes. Going through this writing journey, she experiences the principles and stages of 'The Hero's Journey,' returning with a "writing key" as a writing master of two worlds. The stages of 'The Hero's Journey' shown in this short film can serve as a writing guide for the audience.
MamaPan is an artisan bakery where the female employees are social cases who would hardly find a job given that, for example, they cannot read or write. We see the harsh reality of these women, their instability and their inability to adapt, which results from all the problems they bring from home. The film presents their perspective in contact with the economic and entrepreneurial perspective and once again shows the problems in the social system related to the integration of vulnerable people in Romania.
A short documentary film by ethnographic filmmaker Tim Asch that shows young members of the Yanomamo Indian tribe sharpening their arrow-shooting skills.