Eye witnesses in foreign countries
An authentic film-experiment in 600 takeS; 3 seconds each.
Of A European´s private images in Africa and of an African´s in Europe.
A mutual perception of the one´s and the other´s native place.
As a child I pictured an oasis to myself as a small lake surrounded by palms, with nothing but sand dunes around it. Only when I first visited an oasis ten years ago, did I realise that my picture was wrong.
In a similar way this happened to me with almost all those exotic pictures of travel lust impressed on my mind by children´s books, travel folders and motives on bank notes.
I was quite surprised when I discovered pictures of snowcapped mountains including alpine huts and lakes in amny cafés in North Africa. These picures, like my own in the oasis, immediately eposed to me such false identities one people establishes of another country, another culture, another people, and which is maintained as scenery for foreigners all over the world to avoid “dis”-illusions. Precisely these “dis”-illusions opened my eyes. Every foreigner who´s looking for more than the satisfaction of his voyeurism or the fulfillment of clichés, and who interprets his stay in foreign countries as a creative discussion with the unknown, as a creative discussion with the unknown., as an opportunity to mutual acquaintance and understanding, is just because of this perception of authentic and individual images capable of respecting foreign people and cultures.
In this way he could probably contribute to one of the most important subjects of our times, international unterstanding and cultur mix.
This film-experiment deals with the search and the capture of such authentic and individual images of foreign countries.
Concept / Realisation
Gustav DeutschMostafa Tabbou
Camera
Gustav DeutschMostafa Tabbou
Sound
Gustav Deutsch
Editing
Gustav Deutsch
Support
Bundesministerium für Unterricht und Kultur Abteilung Film
Distribution / Sales
sixpackfilm
