die thede

Germany 2022, 8 min
by Christian Bau

During an art auction, at which Gerhard Richter's "Abstraktes Bild (H.M.)" is being offered for sale, a photo of a dead man appears on the livestream. A paranormal phenomenon?

Germany 2012, 96 min
by Antje Hubert

In 1973 the plans to build a nuclear power station causedmajor unrest among the inhabitants in Brokdorf, a villagelocated by the River Elbe. Despite long protests, the powerstation was connected to the grid in 1986, only a few monthsafter Chernobyl. The film is about the remaining protesters onsite, their life between coming to terms with the \'thing\' in frontof their doorstep and their unrelenting anger about this fatefuldefeat.In 2010 the film begins to travel through the deserted landscape and portrays the eventful past in theform of old footage and the rebellious villagers\' memories, a past that is far from over. In the end, itgains new impetus following the events in Fukushima. A story about perseverance and the refusal tocompromise when it comes to the important things in life.

Germany 2010, 58 min
by Christian Bau

This poetic documentary film links the fate of the New York artist Jimmy Ernst and his parents Max Ernst and Louise Straus on several narrative levels with the story of the print shop Augustin in Glueckstadt. 1935 - Jimmy's parents had to flee to Paris - the Augustin family take in the 15 year-old as an apprentice typesetter. He learns how to set foreign languages such as Chinese or Arabic as well as Runic characters and cuneiform script. Inspired by his work he develops a fascination for symbols, that will influence his entire oeuvre. With the help of the Augustin family Jimmy finally manages to escape to New York in 1938. His father later follows him to the United States, his mother is deported to Auschwitz where she is murdered. The print shop Augustin today: based on photographs and contemporary witness accounts the abandoned print shop comes back to life. While the camera sweeps over characters, mysterious symbols and foreign alphabets, the images are accompanied by text passages from Jimmy Ernst's memoirs "A Not-So-Still Life", read by Burghart Klaussner to the music of the sound artist Ulrike Haage, In its entirety this provides a fascinating insight which is crowned by pictures taken by the renowned photographer Candida Hoefer.

Germany 2010, 76 min
by Alexandra Gramatke, Barbara Metzlaff

VIOLINS FOR ST. PAULI tells the moving story of an elementary school class in the district of St. Pauli, one of the deprived neighbourhoods in the city of Hamburg. Thanks to the unique commitment of the musician Gino Romero-Ramirez, children begin playing the violin at the age of seven. It is a difficult instrument, but Ramirez is so inspiring, that his pupils keep playing with surprising zeal for three years. This requires a lot of teaching experience in addition to steady nerves, patience and agood sense of humour. The film accompanies the class from the first wrong notes to the final concert.

by Christian Bau

After the catastrophe of Fukushima a new term appears in the Japanese language: Genpatsu-Rikon, incalligraphy composed of the characters for ’atomic’ and ’divorce’.In 2011 the filmmaker Christian Bau travels to the east cost of Japan and tries to find out more aboutthe background for this word creation.What did he see?“I’ve seen everything”.“You saw nothing, nothing at all”.

Germany 2013, 62 min
by Jens Huckeriede

From September 19-26 the intercultural memorial project SOUND IN THE SILENCE was hosted by the borough of Altona, Hamburg and cultural center MOTTE e.V. in cooperation with the Gymnasium Altona/Hohenzollernring, Polish students from the Gymnasium Zespól Szkól in Koszalin and the concentration camp memorial Neuengamme. The location and its history were the starting point for the students and participating artists to touch on in an openended creative process. They could express their ideas and feelings through text, music and dance without pressure to perform. For one week the 14-17 year old students developed a performance in the brick factory located in the Neuengamme concentration camp memorial. The teenagers were instructed by artists from various countries: Dan Wolf, Keith Pinto, Michael Hearst, Jens Huckeriede, Kijoka Junica and Indrani Delmaine.

Germany 2021, 98 min
by Antje Hubert

What do we need for a good life? Not all that much, says the owner of a village shop in Germany’s far north. Food and drink, and above all, the freedom to take your time for whatever it is you are doing at a given moment. A journey across the countryside in search of an answer to the question of what, and how much, we really need.