Echo Aurora Under 1000 Stars And 1/2 Moon

I could not find better words, so I paste and copy the Echo Park Film Center & Villa Aurora’s words right into my blog:

Echo Park Film Center and its roving band of cinematic troubadours come to the beautiful hills of Malibu to present a night of short animated and experimental films to remind you of the beauty of life and living. Bring a blanket, a loved one and an open mind to sit under the stars and watch a collection of short films made by the Echo Park Film Center collective (& friends) between the years of 2001 – 2013.

This magical evening will include prizes and surprises, popcorn, Dagie Brundert (a visiting filmmaker from Berlin), laughter, love and the occasional tear.

All ages welcome. Sell your TV and come to the cinema. We look forward to seeing you.

*********

Now that was a wonderful event!

50 people and 1 dog enjoyed a summer evening sitting on the grass watching short films that have been made during workshops of the Film Center – so many lovely different films about flying rats, weddings in the Ukraine, Dirndl girls in rape seed fields … and so much more!

[The Villa Aurora was built in 1928 in the hills of the Pacific Palisades.
Villa Aurora is an international meeting place for artists and intellectuals fostering a lively exchange in the fields of literature, art, science and politics. It is located in the former home of exiled German-Jewish writer Lion Feuchtwanger, who founded „Der Spiegel“ in 1908, and his wife Marta.]

That was a perfect combination!!

Micheladas

I learned today: Michelada is a drink. Beer served in a glass with a salted rim (like Margarita). Plus chicken soup. Or chicken broth (Hühnerbrühe).
There’s a cool restaurant in Silverlake that Paolo and I went to this evening, called Diablo. We had a fantastic dinner. It was a Mexican restaurant before. California was something else before. I was a Scandinavian alien before. Whatever.
They made a popsicle of it. Not of the world but of the chicken soup. Bite in it, drink a sip and lick salt.
Wow.

Coffee! Wine! Jacaranda Flower Tea! Film Party!

The workshop is done! 9 people having fun! And me and helpers-co-teachers Paolo and Rick!

We split into 3 groups and went out filming … then came back and started the alchemistic kitchen performance: mixing coffee / red wine / jacaranda blossom tea with vitamin c and washing soda for the most interesting smelling and developing soups!

They worked fine! We got films! Black & white negative! Beautiful! Full success, yeeeeha!! It’s such a crazy miracle that it is possible to use almost healthy natural stuff instead of more or less poisonous regular developer! And in the end the developed films look almost the same! Coffee is the crispiest solution, red wine is dense and has many grey shades, jacaranda tea the same!

And to conclude that intense day I had a film show in the evening … showing some of my old and new films, also in the Echo Park Film Center, yay, we had a good time, thank you audience!!

EPFC Open Screening

They do it once a month: the Echo Park Film Center (that’s where I’m at this month, lucky me, tiny artist in residence, huge eco developer!) … opening the screen for filmmakers that just drop in and bring their works. 16 or 8 mm or digital, anything is possible.

What an interesting evening! I was quite amazed to realize that almost all films had something in common: brutality and horror elements. A war like scenery woman tortured man trying to rescue. Killing her in the end, thank you. Slowly of course.
A post modern female artist being defined, annoyed and molested by a man that she finally kills and transforms in an art piece, hopefully.
The only female artist that showed a film (besides me) presented an annoyed Jesus suffering on his cross in the desert. Looking for a reason? For lost religion?
Oooff …. heavy stuff, also conservative in terms of gender. Is it prettier to see a woman being raped and tortured? For me it just sucks. War is brutal, right, I agree. Is it prettier to see a woman being raped and tortured? For me it just sucks. Is it prettier to see a woman being raped and tortured? For me it just sucks.

OK, enough shitting: the best film of the evening was made by … name forgotten … coming later … a 17 year old cool greasy hair guy … a film in black and white, contrasty like hell, about another guy, coffee addict maybe, restless, weirdo cuts and breaks, awesome sound and music. Congrats! Keep on keeping on!!

This is me just before the screening:

This is Paolo doing the best announcement ever:

16 mm and a long way to go …

Flower And Potato Juice

I was on an experimental summer embracing country weekend – strolling through fields and meadows, collecting flowers and herbs, buying potatoes from farmers, mixing them to tea and juices, using them for developing TriX super 8 film material (black & white negative processing) and you know what came out? The most beautiful films you can imagine … a soft grey-brownish tone, quite grainy (it’s TriX!), very dense. I am amazed! Thrilled! To be continued!

Watch some films: Kartoffel – Vergäpfelweikilöps

Illy Pinhole Camera

I love coffee, I love pictures, I love old analogue stuff … this is my Illy pinhole camera, it has a tiny hole (about 0,32 mm diameter) and you can put film negative or photo paper inside, it snuggles nicely into the can.

Last Sunday the world celebrated the international pinhole day! So I thought I’d take an easy photo, lazy, on my balcony.

Developed it (a piece of old Ilford paper) of course in Caffenol. Photoshop inverted it.

Exposure time 4 minutes.

Bury St Edmunds – Eco Film Fun

Flicker: Artists and Super 8 – The exhibition at Smiths Row is still open (till end of March), if you have the chance and live in the UK – go there and watch films and images, all about super 8!

I have 7 images hanging there … and a film loop!

… and I gave a workshop (last weekend) called “Three Soups“ – super 8 film shooting and handprocessing in eco soups made from beer, tea, coffee, vitamin c, washing soda. Full success! 4 participants only, which made the whole thing very intimate … together we spent two fantastic and busy days in an experimental alchemistic boat!
Local beer brewer Nick brewed special beer only for us! To use it as developer! (and it worked!!) – see picture below: Reel Super 8 Ale!!

The end of the second day came a bit too quick: the security man of the workshop space wanted to close when we were still in the middle of the last soup: strong Glengettie Tea, extra long stewed (2 hours) – ha, no problem for Tony (it was his film stripe that longed for tea) and me: we rushed to the neighbour cinema café and continued the processing in the boys’ loo!
That was the funniest and punkiest action ever and we had everything we needed there: running water, big sink and the mightiest Dyson hand dryer for the finished film … 20 seconds and it was dry and ready!

Manouche Jazzzzzzz

When I was a bit younger I thought a great deal about feelings and melting pots … how it would feel to be living in a bubble in a right time like for example in New York in 1987. In Tel Aviv in 2009. In Paris in 1932. Now it’s 2013, now it’s Berlin, now I get this strange damn right feeling .. I live just by chance … here … and the mighty god of coolness and hipness says: Yeah! Right here! Manouche, French undercover restaurant, Kreuzberg, my intimate neighborhood … live band … no name … one guy from Africa, one from Israel, playing the best jazz music I’ve heard in years. Upright base and sax. Gorgeous. Awesome. What’s your name, guys? I loved you!!