BREATHLESS

by Rainer Komers | Germany 2009 | 34 Minutes

Meticulously composed images, impressive collages of sound, no dialogue: MILLTOWN, MONTANA is an elegiac excursion across a magnificent landscape deeply scarred by man. Applying the same majestic imagery as in his prize-winning films, KOBE and NOME ROAD SYSTEM, Rainer Komers’ documents what was once the largest mining region in the United States, now contaminated by toxic substances and heavy metals, and seemingly trapped in a post-industrial phase of standstill.

by Jan Gogola | Czech Republic, Germany 2009 | 26 Minutes

The diary of a grandmother from the Prague neighbourhood of Zbraslav as a diary of eternity. Using informal language, for five years grandmother Alena Němcová from Zbraslav has been writing down weather forecasts, dreams, her morning exercises, cooking, everyday house bustle, global events as well as notes concerning relationships, religion and the general spirit of the times – matters of a private, family, social, real and also surreal nature. The film captures the life in her house as a place that could represent a slice of the world and merge various events and connections, both of a daily and timeless nature. It points out that banality can indeed be part of our perception but not of the world itself. The device is just a change of banality to singularity.

by Marie-Catherine Theiler & Jan Peters | Germany 2009 | 15 Minutes

Being confronted with the finiteness of life in a car accident while carrying their unborn baby, the filmmakers Marie-Catherine Theiler and Jan Peters suddenly realize that their lives have become way too hectic. They spend too much precious time rushing from one appointment to the next, hunting deadline after deadline. They decide to change their lives and slow down. But how? During a humorous odyssey from one time-expert to the next, Marie-Catherine and Jan ask the questions most of us would like to know the answers to… Within the timeframe of Marie-Catherine’s pregnancy, the directors of TIME’S UP leave no stone unturned, examining with wit and irony how today’s society – and above all they themselves – deal with the subject of ‘time’.

by Anca Miruna Lazarescu | Germany 2009 | 28 Minutes

In a small church in Halberstadt, in East Germany, a pipe organ plays avant-garde composer John Cage’s “Organ2/ASLSP” – and will do so day and night, without interruption, until the year 2640, resulting in a 639-year long concert. In a humorous but also thoughtful way the film shows different sides of this mind-boggling project: on the one hand the long and overly intellectual wrestles among the initiators, on the other the volunteering staff members’ direct and practical way of dealing with all the work that surrounds such a project. These perspectives make ONE DAY TODAY WILL BE ONCE a film bursting with moving as well as humorous moments – attuned to the question of humanity’s perception of time.

by Karel Žalud | Czech Republic, Germany 2009 | 59 Minutes

In the so-called global age, a man is caught in the trap of time that he has set for himself and got stuck in it together with his freedom. Experimental documentary about time that explores its physical quantity as well as its crucial impact on our actions, behaviour, perception, social rituals and our outlook on the world.

Rainer Komers was born in 1944 in Guben. Studied film at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art, photography at the University of Essen. Worked as director and cameraman in Alaska, Ecuador, France, India, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Yemen. His films have been broadcast on 3sat, Arte, HR, PBS, WDR and ZDF. Works and lives in Berlin and Mülheim an der Ruhr. Teaches in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Münster and Vienna. His film NOME ROAD SYSTEM won the International Short Film Award at Planet in Focus, Toronto in 2004 and the German Short Film Award in 2005.

Jan Gogola was born in 1971. Studied journalism at Charles University and documentary film at FAMU – Film and Television School of the Academy of Performing Arts, Prague. Formerly an editor at Czech Television. Resumed career as filmmaker, script editor and lecturer at FAMU. His film DIARY OF GRANDMOTHER NEMCOVA won the First Prize at the FAMU Film Festival in 2000 and the Best Czech Documentary Award at the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival in 2009.

Marie-Catherine Theiler was born in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 1976. Studied theater and journalism at the Universities of Bern and Fribourg, and film at the ESBA – University of Fine Arts Geneva with Professors Claudio Pazienza and Jean-Louis Comolli. Work as assistant teacher, actress, assistant director at the theater as well as filmmaker. 2008 Scholarship from the Cultural Commission of Central Switzerland for a stay in Berlin.

Jan Peters was born in Hanover in 1966. Studied at the University of Fine Arts HfbK Hamburg. Co-founder of the filmmaking group ABBILDUNGSZENTRUM in 1994. In addition to award-winning short and feature films such as WIE ICH EIN HÖHLENMALER WURDE or WIE ICH EIN FREIER REISEBEGLEITER WURDE, Jan Peters also creates radio plays and participates in art exhibitions. Lives and works in Berlin.

Anca Miruna Lazarescu was born in Timisoara, Romania, in 1979. She emigrated to Germany in 1990. Since 2000 she studies at the University of Film and Television HFF Munich. Her previous work includes documentaries and short fiction films. THE SECRET OF DEVA won numerous international awards and was licensed to TV stations worldwide. SALMA – BENEATH TWO SKIES was made for 3sat, and BUKAREST – BERLIN was nominated for the Berlin Today Award at the Berlinale 2005.

Karel Žalud was born in 1971. He is a Prague-based screenwriter, editor, essayist, director of documentary, feature and commercial films and a sound designer. He first studied at the Institute of Chemical Technology and from 1994 to 2002 at the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts of Charles University, Dept. of Film Studies. From 1997 to 2005 he studied at FAMU – Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Music and Performing Arts.

Directors
Jan Gogola
Rainer Komers
Anca Miruna Lazarescu
Karel Zalud
Jan Peters
Marie-Catherine Theiler

Cinematography
Rainer Komers
Jiří Zykmund
Marie-Catherine Theiler
Jan Peters
Tobias Tempel
Tanja Häring

Sound
Michel Klöfkorn
Jiří Melcher
Marie-Catherine Theiler
Jan Peters
Friedrich Wohlfarth
Johannes Schmelzer-Ziringer

Editors
Bert Schmidt
Zdeněk Marek
Sandra Trostel
Uwe Wrobel

Sound Design
Thies Mynther

Music
Pit Przygodda
Friedrich Wohlfarth

Producers
Stefan Kloos
Rainer Komers
Jíří Konećný
Jan Peters

Line Producers
Caroline Kirberg
Tereza Horská
Caroline Kirberg

Production
Kloos & Co. Medien
Endorfilm s.r.o

Deutsch-Tschechischer Zukunftsfonds
Edition Peters
Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein
Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen
Hyper Market Film
I/O Post
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
Ministery of Culture Czeck Republic
Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung
Státní fond kinematografie

DOK Leipzig, Germany
Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, Czech Republic
Visions Du Réel, Nyon, Switzerland
Planete Doc Review, Warschau, Poland
Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Germany
Hot Docs International Documentary Festival, Toronto, Canada
International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands

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