Schlagwort: Melusine

To Rome I Must Go

Well, and so it turns out that the next stop for my film is … Rome!!
And this is how it happened: Lüneburg and the Lüneburg Heath provided me with lots of great images, information, Melusines … but not really any clue as to where to go next.
Until I went to the outdoor swimming pool. A wonderful natural swimming pool (“Aquadies”) – it was open for its last day and the weather was still summery. Only the water was freezing cold, 18° … but never mind!

And what did I find in the pool shop? A Melusine ring! A mood ring complete with an explanation for just €4.50! I bought it straight away … and my first mood is deep blue. That means “romantic”. I’m not feeling particularly romantic, but where does the word come from? From Rome! So I have to go to Rome!

The photo I took the day before, with the ‘Weg / path’ signs, also points to this, because many roads lead to Rome!

And then I also like to read everything backwards, which gives me ‘Mor’ – suggesting the moor, but also ‘mother’ (Swedish) and ‘death’ (from the Latin prefix mor-). Also the name of the swimming pool means “Water Days” or “Days of Water”!! Which leads me somehow again to Melusine who I threw into the Atlantic … And more … la mère … la mer … the dead moor …
I think I’ve got a bucketful of inspiration!

Berlin – Paris – Lusignan – Loix – Berlin 2

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!!

Trip to Bavaria

Did I tell you? That I got a nice film funding for my current film project called “Khanis Reise”?
It has started. The journey has begun: in Bavaria, close to Augsburg and München. I dreamed about a place and I went there.

The name is “Zusamaltheim” and I like it; it contains “together”, “old” and “home”, and somehow also “cohesion” …
There’s no accommodation in Zusamaltheim, so I’ve booked a room at the “Hotel zum Hirsch” in Wertingen, 6 km away, for 6 days. I’ve rented a mountain bike.

I cycle a lot around the area every day and am building up fantastic leg muscles.

I’m exploring Zusamaltheim: I don’t think there’s a more dreary or boring village … like so many villages here, there’s no public life left (or am I wrong?): no grocery, no shop, no café, no kiosk, no one on the streets … OK, it’s very hot, everything’s covered in concrete (that used to be a sign of wealth: clean streets, pavements that are easy to sweep, great motorway access, tarmac driveways and the ever-manicured green lawns…)… well, one exception: in Zusamaltheim there’s Josef the organic farmer, who runs a farm shop with his wife Annemarie, and you can buy coffee and tea and cake and eco stuff and sit in the shade under the chestnut tree – lovely!

What can I take from this for my research on coincidence and this special film? A longing for water. Cold, clear water. And Melusine.
Melusine is featured on the village coat of arms. A siren, a mermaid, with two tails. But they only grew on her on Saturdays, and they shimmered beautifully … She married a man who had to promise to leave her in peace on Saturdays and not to control her … but of course he couldn’t help himself and peered through the bathroom keyhole. Oh my goodness, what a fuss that caused! So she moved out – bye-bye, control freak.

What does she have to do with my film? I don’t know exactly yet, but I’ve found that films always take on a life of their own… and this one is doing just that!
I’ll keep you updated!