El Mar la mar

DIRECTORS: J.P. Sniadecki, Joshua Bonnetta   COUNTRY: USA   YEARR: 2017   LANGUAGE(S): English, Spanish   SUBTITLES: German   RUNNING TIME: 94 min  

SECTION: International Competition 2017

SCREENINGS

Thursday, 28.09., 7.45 p.m., kinoeins, Q&A with J.P. Sniadecki
Tuesday, 03.10., 11.30 a.m., kommkino

SYNOPSIS

The sun beats down relentlessly on the Sonoran desert that covers parts of the US and Mexico. The space is sparsely populated by some official border guards and other self-appointed border guards and people trying to get to the US without papers. There is danger everywhere. The heat and sun are lethal during the day. It’s easier to move at night. Those passing through leave traces and things that pale and weather and inscribe themselves in the topography of the landscape – the absent is present in a synchrony of life and death, beauty and horror, a hostile sun and promising night.
Masterfully, EL MAR EL MAR weaves magnificent 16-mm takes of nature, animals, people and their traces with a multi-faceted soundtrack, creating a panorama of a very political space that is no less than a disturbing poetic film.

J.P. SNIADECKI

J.P. Sniadecki was born in 1979 in Marne, Michigan, USA. He studied philosophy, film and chinese language and culture. He then attended Harvard University, where he earned an MA in East Asian Studies and a PhD in Social Anthropology with Media. J.P. Sniadecki is an artist, filmmaker, and anthropologist. He currently teaches filmmaking in the Documentary Media MFA programme at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, USA.

FILMOGRAPHY

Songhua (2007), Demolition (2008), The Yellow Bank (2010), Foreign Parts (2010), People’s Park (2012), Yumen (2013, NIHRFF 2013), The Iron Ministry (2014, NIHRFF 2015), El Mar La Mar (2017)

JOSHUA BONNETTA
Joshua Bonnetta was born in 1979 in Canada. Bonnetta works with analogue films and sound, which he presents in various modes of theatrical exhibition, performances, and installations. He is an associate professor for Film and Video Art and Sound Art at Ithaca College in New York State.

FILMOGRAPHY

Cathode Aurora (2002), Patchwork (2004), By Grace (2007), Long Shadows (2010), American Colour (2012), Remanence I – (Lost, Lost, Lost, Lost) (2012), Strange Lines and Distances (2013), Land of Thin Air (2017), Low Islands (2017), Lago (2017), El mar la mar (2017)

SCRIPT:    PRODUCERS: Joshua Bonnetta, J.P. Sniadecki   CAMERA: Joshua Bonnetta, J.P. Sniadecki   EDITORS: Joshua Bonnetta, J.P. Sniadecki  
PRODUCTION: Joshua Bonnetta, J.P. Sniadecki