A tableau film in 12 pieces by Gustav Deutsch

It is not easy to explain what cinema is, what it might be and what it can show - and it is even more difficult to do it in words. There is more likelihood of success when the argument is presented »practically«: in sequences of sound and image. One thing is certain, there is something in film, in moving images, which is different to the related arts, something quite unique to film.

Cinema, that great machine of illusions, has been telling lies from the beginning of the first fade-in. At the same time, because it denies the restrictions of being »realistic«, it exhibits more veracity than any one-dimensional positivist »truth« could ever do. It is precisely because of its love of the physical that film is radically metaphysical - recording what is and organising that into the way it could be. The essence of cinema is especially complicated by appearing to be so simple, explains Stefan Grissemann.

Gustav Deutsch’s attempt to approach and consider the nature of film - conducted without words - provides the basis for discussion of the question with Deutsch himself and several other prestigious festival participants - well, as much as the language of images can indeed be expressed and considered verbally. The work consists of 12 pieces and, at present, is best viewed as »work in progress«. It features film sequences from the first three decades of cinema.

Those who wish to take part in the discussions should register their interest beforehand.

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