Titel Kino 2/2001(2 Alternativ) - German Films

44
Berlin Babylon
Genre Educational, History Category Documentary TV
Year of Production 1996-2000 Director Hubertus
Siegert Screenplay Hubertus Siegert Directors of
Photography Ralf K. Dobrick, Thomas Plenert
Editors Peter Przygodda, Anne Schnee Music by
Einstürzende Neubauten Producer Hubertus Siegert
Production Company S.U.M.O. Film, Berlin, in coproduction
with Philip Gröning Filmproduktion, Düsseldorf
Principal Cast Rem Koolhaas, Renzo Piano, Helmut
Jahn, Ieoh Ming Pei, Günter Behnisch, Josef P. Kleihues,
Axel Schultes, Angela Winkler Length 88 min, 2627 m
Format 35 mm, color, 1:1.85 Original Version
German Subtitled Version English Sound
Technology Dolby SRD International Festival
Screenings Berlin 2001 (Panorama) With backing
from Filmboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Filmbüro NW
German Distributor Piffl Medien GmbH, Berlin
(photo © S.U.M.O. Film)
Berlin after the Wall came down. Observations on
radical reconstruction of a city core. Images of the
conflict between the thirst for demolition and the
hunger for completion. Edited into a documentary
vision.
Since the Wall fell in 1989, the German capital has
been trying to overcome its catastrophic past, to
restore the urban fabric destroyed in the 20th
century, to build as if life depended on it, and to
cast off the shadows of yesterday’s darkness. The
film shows fascinating images of a city in transition.
It is the drama of real estate, of money and power.
Prominent architects, developers, politicians and
urban planners are seen at work.
No interviews, no statements. The music provides
the commentary. The Babylonian fable of
civilization, of the violence of construction, lives
on in reunited Berlin. The upheaval turns to stone.
Hubertus Siegert was born in 1959 in
Düsseldorf. He studied History, Art History
and Theater Studies in Berlin and graduated
with a degree in Landscape Architecture. He
began making documentary films during his
studies and went on to direct and produce
two short films Das Sonnenjuwel (1995)
and The Orange Kiss (1996) as well as
the short documentary Stravinsky in
Berlin (1993) with S.U.M.O. Films.
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