Newsletter Dafilms.com
Your Online Documentary Cinema |
“My films offer an open relationship to what they show, but open relationships require constant work: of positioning and repositioning oneself, of questioning one’s expectations and imaginations towards the audible and visible materiality of the films’ subjects.” In both his shorts and feature films, director Philip Widmann shows audiences that our personal stories are a mixture of complex ties, contradictions that come to the fore from the angles at which we view them. We can already see this form of relativity in his first short, Destination Finale, in which we follow a man traveling across Europe. Without knowing his background or the context of the time, the shots resemble at first a simple carefree holiday. But then, after we discover where this man comes from and what’s happening in his own country, the whole situation changes before our eyes. Widmann’s debut film, Szenario, directed together with Karsten Krause, also initially gives us very little information to work with. At the start of the film, we get a glimpse of a briefcase full of texts, photos, and documents that tell of a love affair between Hans and Monika. It’s the story of two lovers, a boss and a secretary, that took place in Germany in the 1970s. As we uncover more and more information, we slowly begin to piece together the details of their relationship whilst sowing more doubt and uncertainty in the process. The film was screened at the Berlinale and at CPH:DOX. Get to know the stimulating work of Philip Widmann. His films, whether in black and white or with full palette of colour, show us that between the two extremes of dark and light, the world holds countless shades of grey. Experimental, Philosophical, Recently added A Japanese philosopher writes a letter to a famous German colleague. He asks the German to advise the Japanese people how to deal with the permeation of modern life by technology. More than 50 years later, the same issues are being discussed among academics and aspiring engineers. It is hard to grasp how humans and technology continue to coexist. Resorting to biographical trivia, mythological histories and the recounting of dreams is not helping them to see these issues any clearer. |
This house in Ninh Hoa, in southern Vietnam, still holds the memory of the family that once used to live here, but has been sundered by the Vietnam War. In fact there are two houses: one where a serene daily life marks time, as work continues in the rice paddies to the cooing of birds. And there is another, new house, as well. As if the spirits of the dead have been summoned, this family split between Germany and Vietnam is reunited at the two houses for the first time in a long time, and tries to gather fragments of the missing from old letters and photos, and through communication with spirits via a medium. A family tale spun from the collective memories of three generations. |
Experimental, Philosophical, Waiting for the tram “These things don’t happen by force,” says Observer A. “Or by one’s will,” adds Observer B. Fictitious Force is an exchange on the impossibility to share experiences, in black and white and grey. |
The contents of a black briefcase lead into a superficially well-ordered life in West Germany in 1970, in a city that can be seen as representative of the entire country. In this briefcase: the meticulous documentation of an affair between the small business owner Hans and his secretary Monika. A detailed protocol of their sexual activities leaves a trail through the field of infinite possibilities and finite probabilities of leading a different life under the same circumstances. |
Gerti Gerbert was photographed by her husband Eugen over a period spanning more than forty years. Besides the obligatory family photographs, from their wedding day until his death Eugen took countless pictures of Gerti: in her underwear, in homemade summer frocks, or completely naked; on the beach, in the woods, in the car, or on the floor at home. Using the Gerberts’ picture archive, interviews with Gerti, and Eugen’s notes, the film looks at what remains of life and love at the end. |
A man travels Europe. Shortly thereafter, American troops enter the ground war in Vietnam. Destination Finale is an original 8mm amateur film, shot in 1964, found in Saigon in 2005 and edited by Widmann with a sense of drama. |
Doc Alliance Members CPH:DOX
/ Doclisboa
/ Docs Against Gravity FF
/ DOK Leipzig
/ FIDMarseille
/ MFDF Ji.hlava
/ Visions du Réel |