german documentaries 2011

VICTOR SEGALEN – ON THE TRAIL OF BUDDHA
by Tamara Wyss and Maria Zinfert ADVENTURE | CULTURE | FILM | TRAVEL
In the spring of 1914 a French archaeological expedition, led by the French poet and medical doctor
Victor Segalen, entered the Province of Sichuan in order to do research on burial mounds of the Han
era (206 BCE-220 CE) and early Chinese Buddhist iconography and epigraphy. Research in this realm
still continues in Sichuan today, but the means and techniques of the archaeologists and art historians
are more complex and advanced compared to those of a century ago. Segalen, who lived in China
from 1909 until 1914, was fluent in the Chinese language and was able to read ancient Chinese
writings. He was a great admirer of Chinese culture and history.
German title: VICTOR SEGALEN – EINE REISE DURCH DAS REICH DER MITTE
52min | DigiBeta | 16:9 | original German version with English subtitles available
VOICES OF THE ATTIC
by Anna Brass and Magdalena Hutter WOMEN | NS-POLITICS | ART | CULTURE
When Vera Bondy came to Montréal in 1953, she had already
decided to leave her past behind, to become a ‘normal’ person
again. She enjoys living in this lively city and appreciates it for
its cultural diversity and the omnipresence of the arts. Art, she
says, is good company.
But over the years she has realized that time doesn't heal, and
the past becomes more present every day. Until it finally
appears again in the very concrete form of ‘Hlas Pudy’
a magazine written by children in the Terezín ghetto in 1944 – the editor being Vera's then 12-yearold
sister, Mariana Kornová.
VOICES OF THE ATTIC is a portrait of a fascinating woman, an essay on remembering, and a tribute to
a precious and haunting work of art.
German title: DACHBODENSTIMMEN
Festivals: Festival des Films du Mondes Montreal
18min | DVC Pro | HD | German, French or English version available
The film accompanies the Wadan employees throughout their
18-month struggle for the preservation of their shipyard.
A film about the value of work in a globalized world. Wismar,
45,000 inhabitants. The income of every third family depends
on the Wadan shipyard, the only major company in the region.
In August 2008 a Russian investor takes over the old, traditional
business and its future seems secured.
But then the financial and economic crisis hits the Hanseatic
City at its very centre: more than 5,000 jobs are at stake. A race against time ensues.
We accompany a group of welders through turbulent months and bear witness to the fact that losing
one‘s jobs means so much more than losing one‘s income. We show the workers, the owners and the
liquidators struggling to preserve the shipyard, we experience their ups and downs between powerlessness,
anger, sadness and hope. The Wadan shipyard goes down and is reopened under a new ownership
and a new name. Some of our protagonists return to their company, but under much worse conditions.
The film examines what is left after this crisis.
German title: WADANS WELT
Festivals: Luebeck, DOKLeipzig
100min | DigiBeta | original German version with English subtitles available
720
german documentaries 2011
Contact:
gebrueder beetz filmprod.
Köln GmbH & Co. KG
Im Mediapark 6a
50670 Cologne, Germany
tel.: +49 (0) 221-3979696
fax.: +49 (0) 30-69566915
info@gebrueder-beetz.de
www.gebrueder-beetz.de
Contact:
University of Television & Film Munich
Department IV:
Film and Television Documentary
Frankenthaler Str. 23
81539 Munich, Germany
tel.: +49 (0) 89-68957448
fax: +49 (0) 89-68957449
festival4@hff-muc.de
annabrass@hotmail.com
WADAN'S WORLD
by Dieter Schumann WORK | ECONOMY | SOCIAL | CONFLICTS
Production:
gebrueder beetz filmprod.
Hamburg GmbH & Co. KG
Eppendorfer Weg 93a
20259 Hamburg, Germany
tel.: +49 (0) 40-76973070
info@gebrueder-beetz.de
www.gebrueder-beetz.de