Films by Ben Bernhard

Germany, France 2024, 98 min
by Victor Kossakovsky

From filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky (Gunda, Aquarela) comes an epic, intimate and poetic meditation on architecture and how the design and construction of buildings from the ancient past reveal our destruction — and offer hope for survival and a way forward.Centering on a landscape project by the Italian architect Michele de Lucci, Kossakovsky uses the circle to reflect on the rise and fall of civilizations, capturing breathtaking imagery from the temple ruins of Baalbek in Lebanon, dating back to AD 60, to the recent destruction of cities in Turkey following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in early 2023.Rocks and stone connect the disparate societies, from ghostly monoliths stuck in the earth to tragic heaps of concrete rubble waiting to be hauled off and repurposed anew. Through Kossakovsky’s inquisitive lens, the grandeur and folly of humanity and its precarious relationship with nature posits the urgent question: How do we build, and how can we build better, before it’s too late?With: Michele de Lucchi, Mauro Mella, Davide Alioli, Nick Steur, Abdul Nabi Al-Afi

Germany, Denmark, Great Britain 2018, 90 min
by Victor Kossakovsky

AQUARELA takes audiences on a deeply cinematic journey through the transformative beauty and raw power of water. Filmed at a rare 96 frames-per-second for 96 frames-per-second projection, the film is a visceral wake-up call that humans are no match for the sheer force and capricious will of Earth’s most precious element. From the precarious frozen waters of Russia’s Lake Baikal to Miami in the throes of Hurricane Irma to Venezuela’s mighty Angels Falls, water is AQUARELA’S main character, with director Victor Kossakovsky capturing her many personalities in startling visual detail. A documentary by Victor Kossakowsky. Produced by Ma.ja.de. Filmproduktions GmbH, Aconite Productions Ltd. and Danish Documentary. In co-production with Louverture Films and RBB in association with arte, Cactus World Films, Rio Negro Produccione and Ánorâk Film. Supported by Mitteldeutscher Medienförderung, Creative Scotland, British Film Institute, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, DFFF, Danish Film Institute, The Government of Greenland. Developement supported by Eurimages, Sundance Documentary Fund and Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund.