Ulrike Ottinger’s epic Chamisso’s Shadow will be showing in three chapters over the course of one weekend. Watch the trailer here.
The film was inspired by the writings of Adelbert von Chamisso (1781 – 1838), a true renaissance man, a famed poet and botanist, who in 1815 joined the Russian ship Rurikfor in the Romanzow research expedition to the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Ottinger uses the diaries of Chamisso, as well as those of Georg Wilhelm Steller and Captain James Cook to follow their journeys to ethnic groups living in the coastal areas of the Bering Sea.
Chamisso’s Shadow is a cinematic evocation of these travel experiences. Readings from the many, very vivid, observations from those early explorers are combined with Ottinger visual materials. Together they contrast and complement and enter into a dialogue that tells of the loss of knowledge of ancient cultural techniques and about learning anew.
Programme
Part 1: July 20th, 7pm
Alaska and the Aleutian Islands (193 min)
The screening will be introduced by Helen de Witt.
Tickets here
Part 2.1: July 21st, 2.15pm
Chukotka (192 min)
Tickets here
Part 2.2: July 21st, 7pm
Chukotka and Wrangel Island (156 min)
Tickets here
Part 3: July 22nd, 2pm
Kamtchatka and Bering Island (177 min)
The screening will be introduced by Jean McNeil.
Tickets here
Explore the film further on through Ulrike Ottinger’s website, which contains her film diary, sketches, photos and footage from the film.