STORIES FROM THE SEA
AT 2021 | 86min | black & white | documentary film︎︎
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:
10/21 World Premiere at Viennale Film Festival
01/22 International Premiere at Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis - Wettbewerb Dokumentarfilm
PRESS:
Cinema Austriaco, 28.10.2021
Cineeuropa, 27.10.2021
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
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:
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: