This Friday at ausland, Michael Pilz will screen his full-length movie “Himmel und Erde” (Heaven an Earth; 35mm, 297 min., German with English Subtitles, A. 1979-1982), in two parts.
As a kid, Michael Pilz started to work with a Super8 film and photography, but was also a choirboy living in a monastery boarding-school. Leaving that to attend university, he was overwhelmed by seeing the early films of Jean-Luc Godard, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Robert Bresson, and decided for a career in film.
For several years he worked for Austrian television, but started in 1979 to film his first documentary about farmers living in the Alps, which took three years in the making. He says: “I think it’s stupid that people always think about ‘what’ to film. You only need to pick up a camera and film endlessly, and then look at the rushes and see whats on it, before you begin to edit, finding out, what’s in it.”
For a personal artist statement from Michael Pilz himself + video (in German), please click here. For reviews on and images taken from “Himmel und Erde (Heaven an Earth)”, please click here.
“Heaven and Earth is the fascinating portrait of a mountain village fighting to survive against the powers of nature as well as against economic pressures from outside. A profound reflection on the meaning of life and work, the necessity for relationships and the definite character of our world. Slow and lengthy, this film stands out for its beauty and poetry.” (Prix du Jury Oecumenique, 14e Festival International de Cinéma,Nyon, Switzerland October 1982)
Michael Pilz: Himmel und Erde, film screening & artist talk
Friday, 21st October 2016 | 20:00 CET
ausland | Lychener Strasse 60 | 10437 Berlin/Prenzlauer Berg
ausland-berlin.de | michaelpilz.at/films/heavenandearth | Event @ Facebook
