"Les Rites de Passage" is dedicated to the decay of monocultural forests, fossilized memories and ritual acts. Small holes appear inside a spruce tree, left by bark beetles to lay their brood. The tiny openings reveal a forest plantation that was cultivated for economical purposes. As a result of climatic developments, the spruce population is in decline and creates now a breeding ground for future life forms. (1)
Fossils form a planetary time window that exceeds the limits of human experience. 300 million year old petrified roots and trees, preserved by the ash fall of a volcano, appear as silent witnesses to the transformation of things. (2) A burial and ritual site was built around 7000 years ago for observing the sky and aligned with the light axis of the winter and summer solstice. Performative sequences of a light figure enter into an exchange with the possible stories of the place. (3) The film forms an alliance of human and non-human, planetary and spiritual history, which is in a permanent state of becoming and passing.
Writing/Directing/Cinematography/Editing: Florian Fischer, Johannes Krell
Performance: Valerie-Malin Schmid
Costume design: Alexa Wirtz
Graphics: Alexander Schmidt
Producers: Stephan Helmut Beier, Ray Peter Maletzki
Sound Design: Johannes Krell
Sound mixing: Florian Marquardt | Klangfee Media Sound
Color correction: Mario Becker | Digital Images GmbH Halle
Production: ROSENPICTURESFilmproduktion GbR, Florian Fischer, Johannes Krell
The film was funded by Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen, Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (BKM) as well as Sächsische Landesmedienanstalt (SLM) and supported by the Werkleitz Society for Art and Media, Andec Cinegrell Filmtechnik, and Kodak.
