Babai / Father (Germany, 2015)

Drama, 104 min., written & directed by Visar Morina for Niko Films.

Under its working title of My Father, I translated a variety of synopses and treatments as well as the screenplay of this feature-length movie for Alias Film& Sprachtransfer.

The plot to the movie, as supplied on the Niko Films website: "Ten-year old Nori (Val Maloku) and his father Gesim (Astrit Kabashi) earn their living by selling cigarettes in pre-war Kosovo of the nineties. Gesim will hear nothing of Nori's mother. He is an expert at escaping the past and now he wants to flee Kosovo, without Nori. But the boy tries everything in his means to prevent his dad from leaving. An accident results. The shocked father takes Nori to the hospital. When Nori gets out, his father is simply gone. Angry, yet determined, Nori sets out on a perilous journey to find his father and indeed finds him in Germany. With the persistence only a child can have, he confronts his father and cannot forgive him for desertion." 

Babai is proving to be a film festival favorite and is raking in the nomination and awards.

Trailer:

The Artists Labels of Fattoria Nittardi / Die Künstleretiketten von Nittardi

Nittardi is a family winery situated in the heart of the Chianti Classico region of Italy. The earliest known reference to the property, which is located on the boundary between the provinces of Siena and Florence, is a document from 1183 that refers to a defensive tower known a "Nectar Dei". By the 16^th century, the expansive property belonged to the great Renaissance artist Michelangelo. Over the centuries the property changed hands often until, in the early 80s, it was taken over by the Frankfurt publisher and art gallerist Peter Femfert and his wife Stefania Canali, a historian from Venice. They restored Nittardi with love and care, and replanted the vineyards. Their son, Léon Femfert, has been involved full time at the winery since early 2013.

In honor of the artistic history of the winery, every year since 1981 a well-known artist has supplied the artwork for the label as well as the wrapping paper used for the Casanuova di Nittardi Vigna Doghessa wine bottles. The list of participating, internationally renowned artists includes, among others:  Hundertwasser, Corneille, A.R. Penck, Mitoraj, Yoko Ono, Horst Janssen, Valerio Adami, Eduardo Arroyo, Elvira Bach, Robert Combas and Mimmo Paladino.

To the thirtieth anniversary of the wine label tradition, Nittardi published this book featuring the complete collection of the by then 30 different artist labels and corresponding wrapping papers. The texts were supplied by the respected wine experts Jeannie Cho Lee MW and Thomas Schröder, and I did the translations.

The book, as well a broad selection of the fine Nittardi products, can be obtained at select fine shops or online at Stefania Canali.

Head Cold / Schnupfen im Kopf

A Film by Gamma Bak, Germany 2010, Running Time: 92 min. In German, English and Hungarian.
Head Cold was the first of Gamma Bak's film projects that I ever worked on. I translated a variety of subtitles and text cards, the press release, and diverse informational texts. I'm not really sure how Gamma Bak came to use my services, but since then she's pulled me in on a number of projects in which she was involved, including her recent documentary Engelbecken, and the J. Jackie Baier documentaries House of Shame: Chantal All Night Long (2011) and Julia (2013).

German Trailer:

Over at imdb, hudsonwa of New York, New York, has a good synopsis/review of the feature-length documentary:

"A plain-spoken and honest answer to the question, 'What is it like to be psychotic'? To start, there is the great loneliness of serious illness. The title refers to a comment by Gamma Bak's partner at the time, during her first crisis: 'This is all like a head cold, it will pass.'
"Gamma Bak had her first psychosis in 1995, when she was thirty years old, working as a film director and producer in Berlin. Bak was supposed to be part of the free generation – a Jew from Hungary, who never knew totalitarianism, living a free and easy life in an open society. What she got instead was an adult life punctuated by seven episodes of schizoid-affective psychosis, in and out of psychiatric institutions, treated by a total of fourteen doctors and six psychologists, and prescribed twenty-four different anti-psychotic drugs over fourteen years.
"Bak tells her story through a series of interviews – with friends, ex-partners, colleagues, relatives, a fellow patient, and with herself – and clips from previous films, including East… West… Home's Best (1992) and Eine Frau und ihr Kontrabass (A Woman and Her Contrabass, 1994).
"There's no trace of exhibitionism in Bak's relentless gaze, and no voyeurism in this documentary. Instead, the film grapples openly with questions of responsibility for one's own life, and the necessity of walking through what cannot be overcome."

English Trailer:

The Kleist File / Die Akte Kleist (2010)

(52/43 min.) Directed by Torsten Striegnitz, written by Simone Dobmeier, Hedwig Schmutte & Torsten Striegnitz, produced by Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion, Berlin, in coproduction with rbb and cooperation with ARTE, funded by the Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg.

In 2009, I translated the original treatment, synopsis, and storyboards to this documentary film starring Meret Becker (of Killer Condom / Kondom des Grauens [1996 / trailer] and Wetlands /  Feuchtgebiete  [2013 / trailer]) and Alexander Beyer (of Sun Alley / Sonnenallee [1999 / trailer] and Good Bye Lenin! [2003 / trailer]).

The documentary, as explained in the press release: "Potsdam, the 21st of November, 1811. [...] Early in the morning, Henriette Vogel had herself dressed in a white dress with cambric lace. Then [she and Kleist] went for a walk in the forest, hand in hand. Now, at the side of the lake, they have ordered coffee and are playfully relaxing like two infatuated children. A few seconds later, two gunshots ring out: The first bullet hits her directly in the heart, the second one hits Kleist directly in the head. A short time later, the two bodies are found by the Prussian police in a sand hollow close to the lakeshore. In the minutes of the investigating officers, it is noted that no weapons were found at the crime scene. [...] What exactly happened at the Lesser Wannsee lake? Why did one of the greatest German dramatists have to die a violent death at the age of 34? The police reports made at the historical crime scene reveal when the couple arrived at the inn, what they ate in their last hours, and even how much the saw cost that broke on Kleist's skull during the autopsy. But all the available details do not answer the question: Why did Kleist have to die? Is the death the result of an adventurous biography, or does it actually present the key to understanding the brilliancy of his work? [...] We start, after 200 years, by re-opening the file. Was Kleist shot by someone? Or did he shoot himself? On the basis of the Prussian protocols we reconstruct the crime scene; we return to the original location and, with the assistance of actors, we recreate the possible sequence of events — in all possible variations. Was Kleist the victim or perpetrator? Was it a political intrigue, a relationship drama, or an act of desperation?"
Watch the documentary and find out.

 Trailer:

Andre Masson – Femmes

(ISBN-10: 3925782737 / ISBN-13: 978-3925782732)

Cover art: André Masson, Nu devant le Feu, 1944, pastel on paper, 24.5 x 20 cm.
This 88-page, hardcover bilingual (German and English) catalogue from 2015 accompanied an exhibition at Die Galerie, Frankfurt am Main. It includes texts by Dr. Carla Schulz-Hofmann, Dr. Achim Sommer, Francis Marmande and Peter Femfert.
André-Aimé-René Masson (4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was, of course, one of the major French artists of the Modernist Period, and his influence can still be felt today. It is always a thrill for me when I get to work on projects involving art heroes that I not only respect, but that have influenced me (if indiscernibly) as an artist.
To simply quote the gallery flyer (which I translated): "Little consideration has been given heretofore to André Masson's connection to the feminine. Now, DIE GALERIE is putting this special affinity into the forefront of our fourth major solo exhibition of the French Surrealist: for the first time ever, all facets of Masson's perception of women are presented in this selection of approximately 50 paintings, works on paper and sculptures. Few other symbolic figures present in all of André Masson's creative periods fuse the philosophy and art of the artist as intensely as his portrayal of women. Beginning with cubistically abstract female bodies of the 1920s, the exhibition spans an arc from the impressive paintings produced during his major Surrealist period all the way up to the effortlessly airy, graphically spontaneous style of Filles de la Rue Saint Denis. Our exhibition honors an artistic genius who truly deserves his position alongside his important and popular contemporaries."

Example of a piece in the exhibition:

André Masson, Trois Nus, 1950,

oil on canvas, 65.5 x 50 cm.

An interesting aside, which has nothing to do with the show or catalogue, Masson's brother-in-law, the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, was the last private owner of Gustave Courbet's famous and undeniably provocative painting L'Origine du monde ("The Origin of the World"), which, believed to have been modeled by Joanna Hiffernan, as far as I know now hangs in Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

Lauf der Dinge (Germany, 2007)

Directed by Rolf S. Wolkenstein. Long ago — nine years ago, actually — I did the subtitles to this film for Subs Hamburg.

Trailer:

The plot synopsis to the movie, as found on Rolf S. Wolkenstein's website: "Sun, sea, sex – it's there for the taking on paradise island! And that's what they're there for, kids like Elisa (Zoé Anna Weiland), Richie (Manuel Cortez, also found somewhere in Die Nacht der lebenden Loser [2004 / trailer]), Florian (Sebastian Achilles) and Daniel (Tom Lass, also found somewhere in Krabat [2008 / trailer]). ... They've left the cold, grey North behind for fun and adventure on a Mediterranean island. Elisa: rich, spoiled, fleeing from daddy and his stifling upper-class morals. Richie: the sexy drifter for whom every woman is a potential meal ticket. Florian: sensitive, gentle, the type not only girls gravitate to. Daniel: stuck between adolescence and small-mindedness. But even in paradise there are some dark corners that never get any sun. It's where you can lose your way, or your bearings ... where you can discover love or refuse to see it ... where you realize that you haven't really left the cold, grey North behind – but that it's inside you – and that this is real life ...
An impressive début feature by Rolf S. Wolkenstein that takes a wry, unflinching look at young people suddenly facing the hard realities of life on a deceptively sunny vacation island."
Personally, I found the film really good, and while I was happy about the fate of one character, that of another left me depressed... though, in truth, I would've been far more depressed had different music welled up during the resolution of her story: as a native speaker, I really find that "emotionally meaningful", English-language songs played over emotionally heavy scenes should not be sung by people with accents thicker than those of Baccara.

Not from the film —
Baccara singing Yes Sir, I Can Boogie:

Baccara - Yes Sir I Can Boogie von Zerenodo

Feng Zhengjie & Heiner Meyer – East Meets West Through Pop Art

 

(ISBN-10: 3925782656 / ISBN-13: 978-3925782657)

This 48-page hardcover catalog with texts by Susanne Holst-Steppat was published in conjunction with the double exhibition of Feng Zhengjie & Heiner Meyer that ran at Die Galerie in Frankfurt am Main from 9 June 2010 to 28 August 2010.

To quote the gallery press release: "For the first time ever, DIE GALERIE is presenting the oeuvre of the renowned German painter Heiner Meyer (b. 1953) in juxtaposition with works by the Chinese star artist Feng Zhengjie (b. 1968). [...] In his paintings, Heiner Meyer reflects on the ceaseless desire for consumption and self-expression in our Western world. His glamorous protagonists, Hollywood stars or models in the lap of luxury, are widely known life-style icons. His new series, Flowers, created especially for this exhibition, corresponds in a fascinating, provoking manner with the portraits of hybrid women by Feng Zhengjie. Both artists utilize the techniques of Pop Art and its closely related concept of serial pieces to illustrate contemporary social conditions – but their observations and reflections vary fundamentally. The result is an exciting discourse that poses questions on the own social positioning and that also explores the scope between closeness and distance, between East and West; a dialogue that searches for an exchange of cultures by means of similarities and differences."

100 Years of Hollywood — The Carl Laemmle Story (2011)

(TV, 43/52/78 min, HD.) Produced by Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion, Berlin/Cologne, in co-production with SWR and Arte, written and directed by Kai Christiansen, and released in 2011.

I worked on the project as a translator way back in 2008, when I translated an 8-page synopsis for the then-proposed project. I was (and still am) thrilled about being involved in the project, if only so distantly, because so many of my favorite classic horror films — to name but seven: The Phantom of the Opera (1925 / full public domain film), Paul Leni's The Cat and the Canary (1927 / full public domain masterpiece), James Whale's Frankenstein (1931 / trailer) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935 / trailer), Edgar G. Ulmar's The Black Cat (1935 / fan trailer), Dracula's Daughter (1936 / trailer), and Karl Freund's The Mummy (1932 / trailer) — were produced at Universal under Carl Laemmle (17 January 1867 – 24 September 1939). (Go here for a complete list of classic Universal Horror films.)

To present a corrected version of the press release used by Gebrüder Beetz (which I did not translate): "Red carpets, the frenzy of camera flashbulbs, tuxedos and evening gowns: Hollywood is celebrating its anniversary. For 100 years now the City of Angels has been the movie mecca of the world. Hollywood is the ultimate American Dream, which is why nobody would expect its success story to have its origins in small-town Germany: in Laupheim, the birthplace of the Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Studios.

"Coinciding with Hollywood's centenary, the documentary 100 Years of Hollywood — The Carl Laemmle Story traces the life of this small man from Germany who came to own the world's biggest film studio. Together with his niece, the actress Carla Laemmle (seen below, 20 October 1909 – 12 June 2014), who was born in the same year that the "dream factory" was founded 100 years ago, we embark on a fascinating journey through film history and go back in time to when Hollywood was still the Wild West and at Universal, the first Hollywood studio ever, Native Americans, elephants, and monsters lurked around every corner.

"In never-before-broadcast archive material, we suffer with the gesticulating grand diva of the silent screen, Mary Pickford; experience spine-tingling horror when confronted by the Phantom of the Opera (Lon Chaney), Frankenstein (Boris Karloff), and Dracula (Bela Lugosi); and fear for the heroes in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 / trailer), the courageous film which brought Carl Laemmle an Academy Award.

"100 Years of Hollywood looks back upon a life of unique work and searches for contemporary traces of Carl Laemmle's influence. In the spring of 2010, author and director Kai Christiansen and his team — cameraman Torben Müller and sound engineer Beate Müller — travelled to California where, accompanied by today's stars and filmmakers, they delved into Carl Laemmle's legacy. [...]"

The Great Carl Laemmle

The Importance of Grammar, Part I