German Documentary Film Festival

Monsoon had already set in and I knew what all I could anticipate . So , I preferred to start early from home as I didn’t want to miss on this very event which I’ve been waiting for days together . A friend of mine , Favi she’s called by many accompanied me .

Quite evidently we reached earlier than we were expected to , So we unanimously agreed to take the road not taken and walked the whole way while we talked about a lot other things. She’s the one who has humour laced to all that she talks and I really find it amusing that I can’t control laughing . I really wish I atleast were half as funny as her . Having crossed quite some blocks , We got some crunchies to get us going and guzzled few colas to only walk briskly as neither of us wanted to miss our seats in the event . Both were pretty excited about the premiere .

I remember it being quarter past four when I entered Goethe Institut. Walked over to the reception and inquired about the event . Rushed ourselves to the elevator and it took us to the entrance of the auditorium where the German Documentary Films where about to be aired .

We got ourselves registered and dashed in to the hall to just see that the place was deserted except for a foreigner at the extreme end with whom we exchanged pleasantries and quickly got ourselves the best seating and we later realized that indeed it was the best. There was this state of art Bose audio system just three rows ahead of us and if not the video was HD , I’d rate it at least the best in-house quality.

The event organizer hurried through a quick brief and right after it the first documentary film for the day was aired.

It was , ‘’ How to make a book with Steidl ‘’ I suppose a few might have heard about publisher Gerhard Steidl . A publisher and Printer by profession , he is revered and sought after worldwide for his ability to make the most exquisite art books imaginable . This documentary film brought the exact elements of how he did publish one such limited edition book with the world’s best photographers on Dubai which he’d titled aptly as ‘’iDubai’’ wherein the I stands for the well known Iphone since all the pictures were clicked with it.

Though the start wasn’t impressive nor was it sensuous as we were told by , we did watch with the same initial excitement and nevertheless we weren’t disappointed a bit. As the movie unfurled further , I could see myself engrossed in the film . It was a 90 minute film and the last part of it was so brilliantly captured by the precise , observant but discreet camera which got out the unique philosophy of the way the publisher worked . Steidl being a perfectionist , gets the best hardbound cover and sets his own layouts and themes and I really loved the sight of his final published work . Inked in gold were the title , steidl and the ISBN code . His last dialogue goes like this though not the exact words, that’s the best I can recollect , ‘ You can feel my book , touch the paper if u’d want to ! I’d tell that every publisher house would publish the book the usual way wherein the prints are etched by the usual paints and varnishes and have no smell to it unlike mine ,where I prefer to go with oil paints which have a distinct smell to it and leave an imprint behind ‘ That was something I never knew . Being an avid reader myself , I knew a little about hard bound an paper back but not anything that intricate . The film really enlightened us .

The next one for the day was a very short film – ‘ 10 minutes before the flight of Icarus’
Set in Uzupis , a part of Vilnius old town , it had more music to it than the normal ones and I guess the Director was sure that the viewers didn’t need much of an outlined plot to understand the story and I think that pretty worked well like he’d assumed. The music were all street based and I personally loved them . The old man blowing cigar and playing on the miniature guitar and the song sung by a group of people off the streets were truly beautiful renditions which draws one’s attention to the destruction and ruin and I interpreted it as a way to advocate peace all over.

I rushed to get snacks and a cup of hot coffee before the last film for the day was on the screen .

Sipping the Espresso , I diverted myself to the screen to read out the movie’s name aloud , ‘’ Pianomania – In search of the Perfect sound ‘
Though I didn’t get to watch the complete movie , it was about a Piano tuner who no doubt was a master of his profession who has an ear for music and has the ability to turn mere sounds to great renditions. His only ambition was not just about tuning a piano , but also to find the right nuances for every piece of music and every piano player . The film had fair share of music played on Piano right from Mozart’s to Bach’s .

This was a private premiere attended by the the intellect strata is what I’d say ! [Winks] Though wasn’t housefull , it did gather a decent lot . Most of the films were in German with English subs except for the first one which did seem to have English audio ready for us and I should mention that I could get a few german words as in Tschus , wie Heissen sie , bitte , Danke , Auf Weidersehen et cetera

As we left the place , Favi thanked me for having called her to come along and said , ‘’ Do let me know when the next fest is ! ‘’ I just smiled back and waved my hands to board my bus still regretting to ‘ve not watched the entire Pianomania though I knew google would pull all strings in its search for any videos !