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2+2=22 [The Alphabet]

GER 2017, 88 min

Documentation on the recordings of KREIDLERS LP “ABC” filmed at Kartuli Pilmis Studia Tbilisi and in the streets of Tbilisi, Georgia.

Synopsis

A cinematographic composition of three distinct elements: scenes of the German band Kreidler (Thomas Klein, Alexander Paulick, Andreas Reihse, Detlef Weinrich) at work on their album “ABC” in a recording studio in Tbilisi, Georgia, 26 densely filled notebooks of Emigholz, and shots of anonymous buildings and streets in Tbilisi.

2+2=22 [The Alphabet] is the first part of Heinz Emigholz’s STREETSCAPES-series, which also includes BICKELS [Socialism], STREETSCAPES [Dialogue] and DIESTE [Uruguay].

Streaming-Info

Rent or buy the movie on our Vimeo channel. For other providers, see “Watch Movie”.
Language: German, Subtitles: English, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish

Press reviews

In part a response to Godard’s ONE PLUS ONE, which observed the Rolling Stones in the studio, it departs markedly from the brisk yet serene pace of an Emigholz architecture film, achieving a loose rhythmic intricacy that matches both the music that is being created in the wood-paneled studio and the bustle of city life outside. – Dennis Lim, ARTFORUM/2018

Awards and Festivals

- Berlinale Forum, 2017
- Art of the Real, Film Society of Lincoln Center NY, 2017
- BAFICI Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente ,2017
- IndieLisboa International Film Festival, 2017
- Soundtrack Cologne, 2017
- Kunsthalle Bielefeld – „Geschwätz“, 2017
- Internationales Musikfilmfestival UNERHÖRT!, 2017
- Underdox Filmfestival für Dokument und Experiment München, 2017
- Milano Design Film Festival, 2017
- Viennale – Vienna International Film Festival, 2017
- DOK Leipzig, 2017
- Heinz Emigholz Retrospektive im Stadtkino Basel, 2017
- forumdoc.bh. Brasilien, 2017
- Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, 2019
- Metakino Festival Helsinki, 2019
- Counter Gravity - Heinz Emigholz - Retrospektive, HKW Berlin, 2022

Additional Texts

Statement on the production of the film by Heinz Emigholz (Pym Films) 

The film documents the genesis of the recordings and production of some music pieces by the band KREIDLER that were released on their album ABC in May 2014. Continuous, long, observing filmic shots were taken. The recordings were made from 8 to 12 October 2013 in the recording studio of the Georgian film production complex Kartuli Pilmi in Tbilisi, Georgia. A large, wood-panelled hall outfitted with moveable walls was used. The room was originally conceived as a recording studio for a film orchestra; the board of censors used it as an internal screening room.
About 20 sequences from the documentary footage of the creation of the music pieces were selected to form the backbone of the film. Interstitials are added before and between the musical sequences. These interstitials consist of two components: first, documentary footage of architectonic situations in Tbilisi that, in the course of the film, result in a portrait of the city; and second, notebooks leafed through by means of film-technical animation. The notebooks were written and illustrated by Heinz Emigholz in the course of one year. The basic structure of the film is shots alternating between the musical recordings and the city and notebook insertions. The film is a reply to Godard’s ONE PLUS ONE inasmuch as the main part of each film consists of the documentation of the work of a contemporary music group. The simplified, political-pop-ideological macramé of ONE PLUS ONE makes way for an objectifying city portrait in 2+2=22 [The Alphabet]. In contrast to Godard’s construct, here ‘propaganda’ results not from acted sketches and sarcasms, but relatively reservedly from the declamation of municipal surfaces coupled with text-image collages.
The film is not an advertising film or a music clip for a pop band, but creates a new relationship between music and documentation. It contrasts the real work on pieces of music with the documentary footage of the site of the music’s creation, a former Soviet republic on the southern edge of the Caucasus, and with the poetic notes of a more Western-style commentary. The observation of a collective creative process and its pauses stands at the centre of the film. Rudiments of reality and its sound scenarios interrupt these studies, and poetic declamations form ideological opposite poles to it. That these can no longer operate as a politically generally understandable language is just one of the truths that have emerged since the release of ONE PLUS ONE. That the work of the Rolling Stones shown in it has gained increasing dignity through its calm continuation, while, in contrast, Godard’s productions have aged poorly as historical documents, could be regarded as a remarkable contrary correlation movement in time. That could happen with this film, as well.

Pym Films, Berlin

Video Extra

Heinz Emigholz und die düsseldorfer Post-Rock-, Experimantal-, Electro-Band Kreidler verbindet eine langjährige Zusammenarbeit und künstlerischer Austausch. Es entstanden sieben Musikvideos für das Kreidler Album “DEN”, die Ausschnitte aus Filmen von Heinz Emigholz mit der Musik von Kreidler zusammenbringen. Außerdem gestaltete Heinz Emigholz mehrere Plattencover für die Band, etwa das Cover zu „Arise Above“, der limited Edition von „Spells And Daubs“ und „ABC“.


Music: KREIDLER “DEN” (Cd, Lp, digital download, Bureau-b), October 2012
Film: Heinz Emigholz, “The Basis of Make-Up“ (1985), with: Claus-Wilhelm Klinker und Bernd Broaderup, produced by Pym Films
© 2012 Heinz Emigholz, KREIDLER, Bureau-B


Music: KREIDLER “DEN” (Cd, Lp, digital download, Bureau-b), October 2012
Film: Heinz Emigholz, “La Fiesta from THE AIRSTRIP Decampment of Modernism Part III”, produced by Pym Films
© 2012 Heinz Emigholz, KREIDLER, Bureau-B


Music: KREIDLER “DEN” (Cd, Lp, digital download, Bureau-b), October 2012
Film: Heinz Emigholz, material from SCHENEC-TADY 1973-75, produced by Pym Films
© 2012 Heinz Emigholz, KREIDLER, Bureau-B


Music: KREIDLER “DEN” (Cd, Lp, digital download, Bureau-b), October 2012
Film: Heinz Emigholz, produced by Pym Films
© 2012 Heinz Emigholz, KREIDLER, Bureau-B

Credits

Director and Screenplay
Heinz Emigholz
With
KREIDLER (Thomas Klein, Alexander Paulick, Andreas Reihse and Detlef Weinrich)
Narrator
Natja Brunckhorst
Director of Photography and Editor
Heinz Emigholz, Till Beckmann
Original Sound
Till Beckmann
Sound Design and Sound Mixer
Jochen Jezussek
Postproduction
Till Beckmann
Production Management Tiflis
Zaza Rusadze
Producers
Heinz Emigholz, Andreas Reihse
Produced by
Heinz Emigholz Filmproduktion
With the Help of
Filmgalerie 451, Rimini Berlin, Goethe-Institut Tbilisi
World Premiere
11.02.2017, Berlin, IFF - Forum

DVD-Details

Extras
7 music videos of the German Avantgarde/Postrock/Electronica band KREIDLER directed by Heinz Emigholz (54 min), Chapter Navigation, Presskit, Trailer
Language
German
Subtitles
English, Spanish
Country Code
Code-free
System
PAL / Color
Length
88 min + 54 min Extras
Aspect Ratio
16:9
Sound Format
DD 5.1 + 2.0
Set Content
Softbox (Set Content: 2)
Release Date
30.11.2018
Rating
Info-Programm gemäß §14 JuSchG

Distribution Details

Screening Format
DCP (2K, 25 fps, 5.1)
Blu-ray Disc
Aspect Ratio
Digital, 1.77 (1920 x 1080p)
Language
German
Subtitles
English
Promotion Material
Trailer, A1-Poster
License Area
Worldwide
Rating
Info-Programm gemäß §14 JuSchG