JOLA WIECZOREK

STORIES FROM THE SEA

AT 2021 | 86min | black & white | documentary film

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Ein Chor, der die Melodie des Mittelmeers singt.
Cine Austriaco



SYNOPSIS

Jola Wieczorek entlockt dem Mittelmeer drei Geschichten. Jessica ist Auszubildende auf einem Frachtschiff, die einzige Frau in der Crew. Die Arbeit ist hart und anstrengend. Die Witwe Amparo begleiten wir auf einer Kreuzfahrt. Alles glitzert und gleißt, sie fügt sich ein in die tanzende Schiffsgesellschaft. Von einem Selbstfindungs-Segeltörn junger Leute aus vier Kontinenten berichtet die dritte Geschichte. Das Mittelmeer, in ruhigen, schwarzweißen Aufnahmen, ist der eigentliche Protagonist. Das unendliche Wasser, der stete Wellengang, der ferne Horizont, die weiße Gischt - sie verknüpfen diese Geschichten und erzählen doch noch viel mehr. (Maria Marchetta) - VIENNALE CATALOGUE TEXT

Every ship is a “reservoir of imagination”. This quote by Michel Foucault floats by at one point in Jola Wieczorek’s STORIES FROM THE SEA. A ship is a little world in motion. The Joanna Borchard, for example, moves across the Mediterranean sea. Casablanca, Barcelona, Marseille, Haifa. One member of its crew is somehow special: Jessica is a rare female apprentice in a world that can be considered “probably the most chauvinist domain”.
That is another quote in STORIES FROM THE SEA, which comes from a woman on another ship. The Viva & Tanimar seems like a vessel for an utopian way of traveling on water. A community of people from all over the world shares a ship and an idea: the Mediterranean as a common space of humanity. Amparo from Valencia, a passenger on the cruise ship Costa Diadema, would probably subscribe to that idea too.
Wieczorek weaves together stories of women at sea, and explores as much a state of place as one of mind. Crossing Stromboli at one point, the sea and the volcano united in the diaphanous black and white imagery of Serafin Spitzer, the movie recalls those times of imagining a life within sublime nature, while Jessica’s chores and Amparo’s idle days on her cruise are also elevated by the surrounding elements. (Bert Rebhandl) - VIENNALE CATALOGUE TEXT

See also some stories “Behind the film”.

FESTIVALS:
World Premiere at Viennale Film Festival (Austria)
International Premiere at Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis - Max Ophüls Film Preis for "Best Music in a documentary" (Julia Kent)
Asian Premiere at Ulju Mountain Film Festival (Corea)
Diagonale - Festival of Austrian Film (Austria)
Crossing Europe Film Festival - Local Artist Award (Austria)
Ethnocineca - International Documentary Film Festival Vienna (Austria)
IBAFF - Festival Internacional de Cine de Murcia (Spain)
Kunstfilmfest MK - Schwerin (Germany)
SoleLuna Doc Film Festival Palermo - Soundrivemotion Award for Best Music and Sounddesign (Italy)
Cinema in Cantina Treviso (Italy)
Cine de Verano Madrid (Spain)

  • PRESS:
    Cinema Austriaco, 28.10.2021
    Cineeuropa, 27.10.2021
    FM4, 20.5.22
    Der Standard, 18.5.22
    Critic.de, 8.4.22




    CREDITS
    Writer / Director / Producer: Jola Wieczorek
    Production: Fahrenheit Films
    Director of Photography: Serafin Spitzer
    Film Editing: Rubén Rocha
    Consulting Editors: Niels Pagh Andersen, Anne Fabini
    Line Producer: Hanne Lassl
    Sound: Eva Hausberger, Nora Czamler, Benedikt Palier
    Sound Design: Nora Czamler
    Sound Mixing: Bernhard Maisch / Tremens Film Soundstudios
    Composer: Julia Kent
    Artwork & Title Design: Jordi Oms
    Very Special Thanks: Freibeuter Film

    FACTS
    Running Time: 86min
    Original Language: German, English, Tagalog, Spanish, Italian
    Subtitles: English, German
    Shooting location: Mediterranean Sea
    Shooting format: 3K, black and white
    Screening format: DCP
    Sound format: Dolby Surround 5.1
    Aspect ratio: 1:1,85
    SALES/DISTRIBUTION:
    Distribution AT:
    Stadtkino Filmverleih
    Festival Sales: Sixpack films

    FESTIVALS:
    Viennale International Film Festival 2021 - World Premiere

    WITH THE SUPPORT OF
    Bundeskanzleramt für Kunst und Kultur, Land Oberösterreich

    THE FILM WAS DEVELOPED IN THE FRAMEWORK OF
    Start-Stipendium des Bundeskanzleramtes für Filmkunst
    East Doc Platform / Institute of Documentary Films
    Rough Cut Service

    ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK BY JULIA KENT:



    Order your Vinyl of the OST STORIES FROM THE SEA by sending an email to mail2jola@gmail.com.