Project Detail

Pre-Image (Blind as the Mother Tongue)

Synopsis

As a member of the immigrant generation that illegally journeyed from Iraqi Kurdistan to Europe on foot, Hiwa K’s ‘Mirror’ simulates an experience of walking through foreign territory. Using an “object-sculpture” made of stick and motorbike mirrors which he balances on his nose, Hiwa K finds his way.
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2017 - Experimenta Strand

Details

Year: 2017
Type of film: Shorts
Running time: 18 mins
Format: Single channel HD video, 16:9, color, sound (with English language)
Director: Hiwa K
Producer: OpenVizor, Abbas Nokhasteh
Executive Producer: Abbas Nokhasteh
Editor: Steffen Martin, Ben Brix, Alois Späth
Screenwriter: Hiwa K
Director of Photography: Constantine Nissidis, Constantinos Hadzinikolaou
Sound: Steffen Martin, Alois Späth
Commissioned by: documenta 14
Image: Courtesy the artist, KOW, Berlin and prometeogallery di Ida Pisani, Milan – Lucca

Genre

Experimental

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

OpenVizor

Visit Website

www.openvizor.com

Sales Company

KOW, Berlin

Visit Website

www.kow-berlin.info/texts/home

prometeogallery di Ida Pisani, Milan – Lucca

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www.prometeogallery.com/it/s

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A poetic memoir and political report, shot in Berlin and Leipzig, and in landscapes around the British Isles. The film’s narrative builds out from the events of the Reichstag Fire in Berlin in 1933 in which the pioneering German-Jewish sound recordist, Ludwig Koch, on whom the film ultimately centres, plays a minor role, placing him and his family in danger. The film is structured in two parts, juxtaposing Koch’s persecution in Nazi Germany with his experiences as a refugee recording bird song and other sounds in Britain. <br /> The film’s images of contemporary urban and rural terrains, and of objects and documents, create a collision between past and present. Shifts in time are further emphasised through the use of Koch’s original sound recordings from Germany and Britain which feature throughout the film.

Biography Climate / Environment Experimental History Woman Director