Wunderkammer! #1
(originally posted at http://talithabrauer.com/blog on 19.6.15)
Wunder — . Berlin Sunset, May 2015.
My friend Crook has a weekly post called Wunderkammer!, a sum-up of his top 5 interesting/rare finds. Or, as he more eloquently puts it:
‘WUNDERKAMMER!’ is the German word for that great 16th / 17th century European idea of the ‘Cabinet of Curiousities’: a collection of interesting / rare things that the rich would display to their guests as a sort of conversation piece. That’s what I want this to be, too: A conversation piece. I’ll happily show you mine, but I’d also love to see what interests / provokes your imagination & intellect.
So, I decided pick up on this theme and respond with a Wunderkammer of my own. Without further ado ~
1 Victoria
One film, one shot. No cuts. Non-stop action involving a beautiful Spanish girl working in Berlin. Disappointed with her life, she is partying alone when she runs into 4 “real Berliners”. Directed by Sebastian Schipper, who worked in the past with Tom Tykwer, it’s no surprise that Victoria follows in the footsteps of Run Lola Run. The acting is visceral as the actors have no breaks between scenes and the backdrop of the Berlin night turning to dawn is perfect for the mad story that unfolds. Get thee to the cinema.
20–6–2015 edit: Victoria swept the board at the Deutscher Filmpreis (German equivalent of the Oscars) — winning Best Fiction Feature Film, Best Director, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Film Music and Best Cinematography. Geil.
2 Ask a Grown Man with Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich
Hehe. I stumbled across Rookie Mag’s YouTube in the wee hours of the morning. Teenage girls write in their pressing questions (about boys and style, duh) and then grown men celebs answer 5 questions via YouTube. What I loved about these interviews (yep, I watched more than one) is how sincere the guys are. After watching so many canned late night interviews and press releases, it’s pretty endearing to see these famous men sincerely answer funny and honest questions.
I don’t even remember what question this is an answer to, but my favourite was Thom Yorke’s strategy when you like someone: “Follow ‘em around like a nutter”.
3 On Being Ignored
Crook wrote an article about being ignored and how it’s actually beneficial for the creative process. I personally hate being ignored, but enjoy being alone. In a day and age when we swim in a whirling-swirling-ever-updating sea of images, it’s not too hard to feel ignored as a photographer. It doesn’t seem like people spend more than 10 seconds on an image anyway, which is part of why I am so sporadic with sharing my photos online. It always feels a bit like shouting into the void. But being ignored actually makes space for sensing my own direction and allows creating to happen. When I ignore the sea and stop worrying about where my photography fits, and simply focus on the creating — then the ideas flow and the projects emerge.
4 Ann Voskamp’s Rallying Cry
OK, Voskamp’s writing is usually not my style, but I loved her photo essay from Iraq and call to action for the North American Church to respond to the women and children whose lives have been devastated by ISIS. And then people responded and raised half a million dollars. There’s so much bad press about the church/Christians, aka we always hear about the fundamentalists, but stories like this one are happening as well. It is also encouraging to see beautiful photography that actually helped move people to action.
5 Interview with Son of Saul star, Géza Röhrig
I’m fascinated by people who rise to fame and can’t be bothered with it. Plus, Röhrig was born in Hungary and I have a soft spot for Hungarians. And now there’s another film on my list to see.
So there you have it. Happy Friday and happy procrastinating! =)
