Foreign Stuff - a documentary film from Il Mare Film.A documentary about the Sassi of Matera, interviews and conversations from May 2003 in Basilicata in Southern Italy. An extraordinary portrait from an almost forgotten town, dug into the tuff cliffs, that has been there since Classical times. Encounters with the equally extraordinary inhabitants of the town form the basis of the film. A surprise, with the bewitching music of an Apulian singer. (Il Mare Film, 2004) |
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Notes: Silvia: I know Matera from an old out-of-print travel book. In my memory I had the black and white photograph of the Sassi, which reminded me of the Tower of Babel. Apart from that, I knew the parts of Pasolini's films that were shot there. The South of Italy, Basilicata and Apulia were blank sections of my personal map of Italy, which was another reason to go there. Peter: I enthusiastically joined Silvia's project because she told me about an abandoned, labyrithine city from the Classical period, that had been completely emptied in 1953 and which could blossom again today.  Peter: I was attracted to the idea of going to a delapidated town, where I heard you could buy a house with a little money and do it up yourself. I did not want to deal with any officials, politicians or other authorities. It was not about the 167 official churches in the town, which was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. I was looking for the unexpected, for mystery.  Trailer Roba Forestiera Home ©2004-2007, IL MARE FILM |
About the film: A/D 2004 Language: German/Italian, subtitles (eng. germ. ital.) Length: 44 minutes. Format: DV-PAL/Beta-SP Shooting: 3 weeks in the Sassi of Matera, May 2003 Finance: independent Editing: Final Cut Express 2, Apple Macintosh, OS-X About the makers of the film: Silvia Holzinger, 39 Idea, concept and direction. Editing, organisation and marketing. Silvia was born in Upper Austria, studied communication studies and Italian in Vienna, Berlin and Rome. She wrote her undergraduate thesis on the one-man cinema of the Roman film maker, Nanni Mortetti. She has worked in various roles in a variety of projects involving films, film festivals, workshops, and a production handbook. In 2001 she graduated from the school of digital video work at the Videolab in Vienna. The documentary film makers Ferdinand Stahl, Karin Berger, Käthe Kratz and Ebba Sinzinger were her mentors. Her first independent short documentary were the portraits Kohlgasse 19/Schmuckwerkstatt and Silberstreif am Horizont. Peter Haas, 40 Concept, camera, sound, editing, technical support. Peter Haas was born in Osnabrück. He studied Philosophy and German in Cologne, Vienna and Berlin. After dropping out, as a passionate nerd, he could only really get into film with the advent of FireWire and DV. Il Mare Film - is the working title of this collaboration that began with various films about Italy. Roba Forestiera/FOREIGN STUFF is their first documentary film together.  |