Films by Michelle Barbin

Germany 2021, 88 min
by Christian Bäucker

In his film HEIMATKUNDE, the director returns to the school building of his childhood in East Germany. For almost 25 years it lay empty, seemingly waiting to be revived. The remains of socialist education are pasted over, hidden, forgotten.In tentative interviews with contemporary witnesses we are gradually coming nearer to the systematic manipulation of the child’s mind. In this way, it becomes understandable how the dictatorship functioned and turned into the commonplace “that’s just the way i

Germany 2016, 90 min
by Lutz Gregor

MALI BLUES tells the story of four female and male musicians from the West African country of Mali, who espouse with their music a tolerant Islam and a country at peace.The West African country of Mali is considered the birthplace of the blues and jazz, brought later by abducted slaves to America’s cotton fields. For centuries music has strengthened Mali’s cultural identity, musicians are holding strong positions in society. Following Fatoumata Diawara, shooting star of the global pop scene, MAL

Germany, Switzerland 2013, 92 min
by Noël Dernesch, Moritz Springer

The German singer Gentleman and his Italian counterpart Alborosie are two of the most important reggae artists in Europe. In 1999, Alborosie went on a two-week trip to Jamaica. He's been living there for 14 years now and plays to enthusiastic Jamaican audiences together with Gentleman. Journey to Jah paints a varied picture of the importance and spiritual meaning of reggae on the Caribbean island, where music is used to fight violence, sexism and poverty. As Alborosie says, "God lives here, but

Germany 2009, 95 min
by Lilian Franck, Robert Cibis

Pianomania is a portrayal of Stefan Knuepfer, the virtuosic piano tuner from Steinway, Austria, and his many famous clients at work, including Lang Lang, Alfred Brendel, Andrej Gravilov, Mitsuko Uchida, Rudolf Buchbinder and Pierre-Laurent Aimard; the film offers an unusual and amusing look behind the heavy curtains at major concerts. This film is about the quest for the perfect tone. It shows each obstacle that is created by abandoning everyday routine and surrendering oneself to Art.The fortit

Germany 2009
by Ingo Rudloff

Brothers Bernard and François Baschet (born in 1917 and 1920, respectively) have been two of the pre-eminent pioneers in building experimental musical instruments and creating sound sculptures. After working together in a symbiotic relationship for decades, they parted ways professionally in the mid-1970s to pursue their own individual artistic aspirations. The film follows several years in the lives of the two brothers, documenting the musical and artistic marks they have left throughout the wo