unterwegs in Sachen Film >>> <<< on the road making films!
Last station of my journey: Paris. One night at Hotel Modern Est (close to the train station Gare de l’Est, hence the name), one evening spent with uncle and aunt close to Les Halles, an area with lots of very nice restaurants! The heat is still grabbing at us!!
The coolest wine cooler!!
Seen at La Rhétaise
“La Rhétaise est une cabane ostréicole située au cœur des marais de la Couarde sur l’Ile de Ré. Nous sommes 2 sœurs à mener la barque: Jana s’occupe de la production et Charlotte la vend. Un véritable travail d’équipe !
D’avril à novembre nous vous accueillons sur notre site de 7 hectares de marais où vous pourrez déguster les huîtres et crevettes de nos productions mais aussi d’autres produits de la mer comme les moules, les bulots, les palourdes, etc …”
“La Rhétaise is an oyster farm located in the heart of the Couarde marshes on the Île de Ré. We’re two sisters running the show: Jana looks after production and Charlotte handles sales. It’s a real team effort!
From April to November, we welcome you to our 7-hectare marshland site, where you can sample our own oysters and prawns, as well as other seafood such as mussels, whelks, clams and more …”
Salt has been harvested on the Île de Ré since the Middle Ages – or perhaps even much longer!
The salt marshes consist of shallow basins in which the seawater slowly evaporates under the influence of the sun and wind. Through this process, which lasts several weeks, salt crystals form naturally.
I cycle around the area a lot and come across a stand run by a very nice lady with salt-white hair! I buy four bags of Fleur de Sel.
I painted some shells … and finally tossed them into the Atlantic. Melusine goes to water.
… which is a small village on the Ile de Ré! Took the train to La Rochelle and then the bus across the bridge to the island.
More Melusines there? No, I will take her to the sea!
There is a baguette law: the “Décret Pain”! This 1993 law protects the traditional baguette (“baguette de tradition française”), which may only be made from flour, water, salt and yeast.
Incidentally, it was designated as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2022.
Lusignan, a medieval town!
Through Lusignan flows the river Vonne. It meanders, winds its way through the landscape and is used as an open-air swimming pool in one spot – free, small, lovely!
I think a lot about why and how small villages develop. Through my film, I’ve visited two: Zusamaltheim in Bavaria and Lusignan in France. Both are relatively quiet (in my view); there are lots of shops that have closed down: the optician’s, the photo shop, the grocery shop, the newspaper and tabac shop.
Both had a bakery, though! But no café where the villagers could meet up for a chat. Both, however, had an organic shop set up on the locals’ own initiative! The one in Zusamaltheim was a farm shop run by the only organic farmer for kilometers around; the one in Lusignan was a lovingly run organic shop with plenty of local fruit and vegetables, cider and wine (I bought the most delicious pear cider in the world there!!).
I’m thinking about the evolution of villages now.
So these are the remains of Melusine’s castle! What I found most fascinating was this view looking up inside the tower. Perhaps that was Melusine’s bathroom! With a sophisticated fresh-air ventilation system!
Lusignan. In the middle of France. Heatwave.
I’m on a research tour for my new film. All on Super 8 as usual but a little bit longer! I got funding thanks to Berlin artist senate!!
“Welcome to Lusignan, land of knights! Located about twenty kilometers from Poitiers, the cradle of the legend of the fairy Mélusine”
“The legend tells the story of Mélusine, a young girl cursed by her mother and condemned to the following curse: every Saturday, her legs transform to two serpent’s tails. A mermaid. If caught in this state, she will never be able to return to human form. To break the curse, she must marry a man who will never have to see her on Saturdays.
In Lusignan, she meets Raymondin and agrees to marry him on the condition that he does not seek to see her on Saturdays. After their wedding, Raymondin then became the most powerful lord of Poitou. The fairy Mélusine, the builder, built the Château de Lusignan on her husband’s land, as well as other majestic cities and fortresses in the surrounding area.
But: Out of curiosity, one day Raymondin seeks to unlock his wife’s secret and discovers her serpent’s tails while she is in her bath. When Melusine realizes this, she disappears screaming and profaning horrible threats against the fortresses she has built for her husband.” (https://www.tourisme-vienne.com/en/webzines/lusignan/)
I discover her everywhere … and I like her. Her husband Raymondin, well, he couldn’t leave her alone one single day … control freak! So she left.
More in the next posting! I found the castle remains!!
Starting my journey! It’s all for my next film … I got some funding so I am able to travel, pay for train tickets and accomodation and a handful of super 8 cassettes!
First stop: Brussels, then Paris.
It’s so hot in Paris, you can hardly imagine it. Here I am, trying to fan a bit of air into this sweltering carriage …
A small but lovely exhibition opening the night before last at the Kunstverein Neukölln – a self-managed gallery in my neighbourhood.
I am one of six artists exhibiting there. Title: Kuzunguka: “People and animals move swiftly through the city. Changes in pace whilst travelling between town and country. Sometimes stumbling or even floating. Or working in the fields, as migrant workers, in Finland.
This exhibition will feature, amongst other things, pinhole photographs of moving people in the city, a drawing, collages, a cyanotype and prints documenting journeys by regional train.
Kuzunguka: A verb in Kiswahili, pure onomatopoeia, meaning ‘to move between places’.”
(I developed my 5 pinhole photos in Berlin beer called BRLO!)
