Exhibition Gallery JMV
Mexico City, 2011
About WH Scholz
Artes e Historia, Mexico, 2010
Exhibition Gallery Association of Art, Dresden, Germany, 2009
Exhibition Museum Chopo
Mexico City, 2005
Multimedia Dance Performance
Landscapes of Love
Documentary
Das Bild in mir / Image Inside
Fiction Film
Lost Wings / Verlorene Flügel
Documentary + Fiction Film
Shadow Seeker / Schattensucher
About WH Scholz
DNN, Dresden, Germany, 1994
DNN, Dresden, Germany, 05.07.1994
To Find One’s Own Rhythm: Conversation with “Schattensucher” (film about the Schillerplatz), film director Wolfgang Scholz
To say that the new film by Wolfgang Scholz had a difficult birth, is putting it lightly. Already by the shooting there were practically “mystical” encounters, says Scholz.
Then there were difficulties during the pot-production process of the original, in which he nearly lost the original material. Because of this he had to un-invite the public, the guests invited for the premiere at the Schauburg cinema. Then again there was trouble at the new premiere when the reel seemed to get stuck in the projector and the Tarkowski room of the Schauburg, which got to temperatures of a sauna. So Felix, brother of the actor boy in the film (Lukas), said that “Schattensucher” had bad luck, he certainly was right.
The film however got the better from it. The unpretentious 90 minutes documentary was a huge task, artistically resolved, with a high level of harmonious transferring of the story to a fiction story situation, make it a very specially worth while film to see.
Scholz, the once inhabitant of Schillerplatz, living since 1989 in Munich, and working as a freelance director, who sometimes returns to his home town to make films (such as “Kohlenlothar”, his best known short film). Scholz goes on un- treaded paths for the regional filmmaking in his “Schattensucher” for the regional film art; and whether or not he likes it, he has branded in 18 days into the celluloid the Schilerplatz an original memorial: The deli Fendler, the policeman Jacob, Fitzel Fatzel, umbrellas Dunger, and looking glasses Panzer, or simply people.
“Schattensucher” has a sub-title “the barely still findable story of the childhood’s place”. For me “Schillerplatz”, it is more than anything else a symbol of a place changing quickly and extremely.”
The subtitle appeared during the shooting when I realized how short-lived everything is. As soon as I met someone, I was told that soon this person was no longer going to live where he is. This began with Feinkost Fendler, who moved the closing down of his place by two days, for us. When we needed to some extra shooting many were gone. I don’t think you find this phenomena so extreme else where.
“ I think that to say ‘childhood place’ is enough of a symbol. You go there again and look for places and people…”
This is something one shouldn’t really do, because you will always run into irrational preconceived ideas. That is something I absolutely wanted to avoid with this film: The what- is – still- here? The motivation was quite simple my grandmother’s burial and a bomb scare. Suddenly one conversation led to the next, something absurd happened and that is exactly what got me going. What is behind these people? That is what I wanted to bring together in a certain rhythm, a traditional documentation doesn’t interest me.
What stays and what goes wrong with people that appear in the film. That can also go wrong.
Yes, for instance, in the sequence where the boy – who represents my childhood- appears, had to be done because the drugstore owner Weigelt didn’t want to appear…
You speak of the rhythm of a film: What do you mean by that?
Yes that can be separated
The expectation of the Dresden residents goes in the direction of seeing precise documentations, historical facts and relations. What will you say to those people if they miss that?
I am mostly interested in filmic media, rhythms, constructions; quality. I am not interested in informing as the central subject; others will be doing that. Of course there will be documentary parts such as the Blaues Wunder (the bridge), the Villa Marie, or the Schiller garden. The 45 minutes version that I made for the MDR, and that will appear in autumn is more informative.
In relation to this: Why is it that the SWR (South-West TV Broadcast) and not the MDR the co-producer?
I principally only do films that I can back (be the owner of?). My special thanks with “Schattensucher” goes to the Saxon Film fund that supported the project. The SWRwill show the 90 minutes in his TV-program. To the MDR I offered the project several times, but they showed no interest. Now they waited until the film is finished to ask for a short version of it. This is how the TV productions work, even though the TV should add its part.
That you always come back to Dresden to work: Does it have to do with the fact that you grew up here, or does Dresden have a special artistic charm for you? Or can these two things be separated?
Yes, that can be separated. I have a clear inclination for Dresden for sure, and my films are made with the knowledge of how and where things work. But this is only a part of my work. I don’t want a Dresden melancholic product.
A film is a good school for how one can look at things – a long process. One has to take one’s time and will be richly rewarded; and this in these rushed times…
Yes, it is absurd, despite the 93 minutes. I have had to throw out a lot of material. But I wanted to show the people. I wanted to make it clear what is happening. That is the difference with TV productions; there one has to be fat, you cannot do shots that are longer than 6 seconds. This is true for instance in the scene where they talk about the suicide of the old woman owner of the café Toscana. One should be able to digest it. Interesting is, to find out if people from outside of Dresden can understand the situation. In that respect, I can say that I have had good experiences. In other places people understand the film, not as Schillerplatz, but as a structure and history.
The music works as a complete, nearly as an piece on its own, not like sound track.
That is quite so, it is what I mean by rhythm. In the beginning there was only the idea: A Place, conversations, sounds, that intermix; without knowing what rhythm will come out. This is shaped in the editing. There were three and a half months planned to do the editing. In the beginning I even thought of having the music played live at special showings. Rainer Promnitz from the Dresden Philharmonic – who was a classmate of mine and also lived at the Schillerplatz – did the composition, without seeing the film. In the end it worked out well together; and was beautiful.