Don’t Look Now

Daphne du Maurier made me fall in love with Donald Sutherland.
One of the best films ever – Nicolas Roeg has just died ….
„Don’t look now“ … a film that I saw when I was in my teenage years that impressed me like hell … one of the best horror films ever … when the red caped dwarf turns around and reveils a spooky old face … aaaaah …. the second face … the blue eyed blind woman … the silent soft boatride through the canals of Venice … a film about premonition, time travel, a warning, an ending love … but more, it reminds me of one of my most loved novels by Daphne du Maurier: „Ein Tropfen Zeit“ in German, „The House on the Strand“ in English … if you ever get the chance to read it: do it! It is about a person travelling in time using a weird drug potion, making him go back into time, into addicting and most fascinating stories of murder, adultery, plague, betrayal in the 14th century … but only in his mind, not in his body … that’s why he finally mixes the two worlds more and more … walking on a train trail that is not real in his 14th century meadows …

There is scarcely a book in the world that dragged me more into a fantastic bubble like this one. Even Daphne says: „I got so hooked on the story I actually woke up one day with nausea and dizziness“.

This is Daphne du Maurier:

Kicherlotto / Chickpea Lotto

Making an installation for a new film called „Kicherlotto / Chickpea Lotto“!!
The peas are numbered from 1 to 49 – the German lotto needs 6 numbers – and they will germinate and sprout in only a few days. As soon as I see a little sprout coming out I will note the number and play lotto with the first 6!!

Kreuzberg Heaven

Kreuzberger Himmel … it is a restaurant in Yorckstrasse 8 that opened in 2017 and is run by refugees, offering Syrians, Iranians, Pakistanis and Afghans — among others — an opportunity to gain their footing and learn how to cook and manage a restaurant, do an internship, integrate, survive … The driving force behind this idea is Be An Angel e.V., a charitable organization founded by journalist Andreas Tölke with the aim of connecting communities and sharing culture.

3 religions, 6 languages, 4 nations. The food is extremely yummy. It is possible! The property belongs to the catholic church. Who cares! The bottom line of all religions is caring for your neighbour. Should be. Misogyny and hatred is manmade. They give. They live. Connect and share. I raise my glass of red wine, Cuvée de Printemps, Lebanon, to all of you loving and helping people.

German Wave

I was a guest at the German TV – Deutsche Welle – German – Wave – „Deutsche Welle is Germany’s international broadcaster. We convey a comprehensive image of Germany, report events and developments, incorporate German and other perspectives in a journalistically independent manner. By doing so we promote understanding between cultures and peoples. We simultaneously also provide access to the German language. DW stands for in-depth and reliable information in 30 languages, with TV in English, German, Spanish and Arabic.“

They have a late evening platform called „Guest Of The Day“ and it was ….. guess ….. me!!
We talked about super 8 and filmmaking and my personal mission and …. watch it! HERE!! It’s in German with English subtitles!

Majestic Treetops

Aaah, I love the Open Air Film Festival Weiterstadt (in the South of Germany)! Watching films and drinking wine and talking to hundreds of people and eating yummy Wurst or yummier Veggie Falafel … all of this under high beautiful sweet mediterranean smelling pine trees.
I lay down my Illy coffee pinhole camera, point the hole direction sky and capture the majestic treetops.

Somewhere Inside The Rainbow

The Regenbogen-Kino (Rainbow-Cinema) in Kreuzberg is one of the last completely independant self-run cinemas in Berlin with a history rooting in punky house squatting aera in the 80es. Small and totally lovely with big soft sofas and a hi-tech Beamer. And a 35 mm projector!

I had a show there last Saturday showing my „Ode an Juni / Ode to June“ films – 4 pieces, each about 20 minutes long, super 8 origin, one after the other with a little break between to refill our glasses with summer wine: local Brandenburg cherries with white wine and champagne. Thank you for sharing this evening with me! Next year again …

Hopping In The Garden

„Hoppegarten“, that’s the name of a quarter in Berlin which is famous for its horse racetrack. I spent a Sunday afternoon with 3 friends and a little kid there, picknicking on the lawn, watching beautiful shiny horses run like devils, betting on the horse with the most beautiful name and losing.
I somehow like this picture: after the sudden summer rain shower. Between two races. These people in red dresses with their sticks … I don’t really know what they’re doing there on the track, looks like they’re checking the grass … looking for shit or holes in the ground?

Solargraphy

Solargraphy is a photographic art of capturing the sun’s path with a pinhole camera. And much time. A very long exposure …. weeks, months.

I did it (together with my friend Gesine): I used a small black film box, a tiny laser drilled hole, a piece of photo paper, some wire to fix it … and 10 months.

10 months is such a long time that the paper doesn’t need to be developed – it would become totally black – the negative images appears on the paper by itself because the altered chemical grains in the emulsion are going crazy with this long exposure time and start to „burn“ the paper!