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Destination Orient. Foreigners in Marrakesh This documentary film discusses the phenomenon of gentrification: within the last 10 years, several hundred Europeans have purchased, renovated and moved into a house in the old part of Marrakesh. This European community lives in the very middle of an Islamic city. Can it therefore be regarded as an example of successful co-existence, or do these Europeans merely pursue a kind of neo-colonialism - not with weapons, but with their economic power? A film by Helge Weichmann |
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1001 Arabian Nights booked. Mass tourism in TunisiaCrowded beaches and giant holiday resorts are only outward effects of mass tourism. But what changes take place within the society? A three-week field trip across Tunisia looks behind the scenes of the phenomenon of mass tourism: the purchase of houses in and around the city of Tunis, the pittoresquevillage of Sidi Bou Said, a trip across the salt sea Chott el Djerid, film-tourism with organised trips to the film locations of "Star Wars" and "The English Patient", the merchandising of the desert: festivedinner in the desert, camel rides and jeep-tours as well as motorised hang-gliding over the desert to catch the impressive panorama. A film by Helge Weichmann |
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Venice 2002 (working title)The image of the lagoon city has many faces: tourist attraction, traditional trading centre, cultural metropolis, meeting point of artists from all over the world, location of innumerable films, setting of classic and modern plays and novels, and above all, home and working place of the locals. This film tries to find out where realism ends and the big illusion of "Venezia" begins. Various artists have been interviewed - a mask builder, a gondola builder, a glassblower, a puppet maker – and each of them draws his personal and distinctive picture of the city. A film by Helge Weichmann |
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A trip to the movies. Film tourism in Northern AfricaOur world becomes more and more mediatized and, thus, enables us to penetrate into hitherto unknown territories and regions: cinematic fantasy worlds can nowadays be visited. Hollywood-films such as "Star Wars", "Lawrence of Arabia", "The English Patient" or "Gladiator" have partly been shot in Morocco and Tunisia. These box-office successes meanwhile serve the tourist industry to expand its portfolio. Which peculiar characteristics are attributed to each particular film setting? In which ways are these film locations being used? By means of several examples, the film explains the latest developments and strategies of this new touristic sector, but also shows how this affects the surrounding regions. A film by Helge Weichmann and Stefan Zimmermann |
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The DallalThe Dallal belongs to an old traders system in North Africa. His role is to supervise the business deals between the traders of raw materials and goods. The Dallal takes care that transactions are carried out fast and on acceptable terms. Being a man of integrity, the Dallal is fully integrated in the value-added chain. He knows all the different quality categories and their market prices, he makes sure that the goods arrive in due time at the right place and all participants receive an adequate payment. This film explains the Dallal-system considering as example the manufacturing process of the Babouches, the traditional Northern African leather slippers – from raw leather, via tanners, dyers, shoe-makers to the end-customer in the Souk. A film by Helge Weichmann and Stephanie Schimo |
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The Upper Middle Rhine Valley, a world cultural heritage site. A shift from a natural to a cultural landscape This short promotion video focuses on the physical- and cultural-geographical aspects of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, one of the latest UNESCO cultural landscapes. The 40-mile stretch of Rhine between Bingen in the south and Koblenz in the north is famous for its complex, history-fille landscape with old towns, castles, and monuments. The physical beauty of the area includes the steep hillsides and slate rocks that vault up from the river, mile after mile of terraces of viniculture and the Rhine’s sinuous loops and sways just north of Boppard. A film by Holger Stangner |
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Oued Laou. A rural market in MoroccoA visit to one of the traditional markets in the north-east of Morocco, not yet affected by tourism. Here, merchants weekly offer their goods and commodities for sale: fruits, vegetable, spices, pottery, clothes, rugs, but also fresh meat and livestock. Outside the market area various social activities take place: a tea-tent invites the passers-by to step inside and take a rest, open-air kitchens offer local food, and for the children there is a soccer goal wall to practice goal kicks. A film by Helge Weichmann |
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The frenzy of the being. The Jemaa el Fna in MarrakeshThe Jemaa el Fna, the so-called "square of the beheaded", is a large open space in the old part of the city of Marrakesh. During the heat of the day, the Jemaa el Fna appears deserted, but early in the evening it turns into a tremendous open-air theatre for entertainers, acrobats and snake charmers, while clouds of smoke raising from the numerous open-air kitchens drift over the square. Until late at night the square is full of life, a kaleidoscope of shapes, colours, sounds and odours, which neither tourists nor locals can hardly resist. The film not only presents scenes of spectacular entertainment and dancing, but also shows the more quiet side of the square: the tale-tellers. A film by Helge Weichmann |
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Dancing for Allah. The sons of Sidi Ahmed ou MoussaThe "Ouled Sidi Ahmed ou Moussa" are acrobats belonging to a travelling fraternity of Sidi Ahmed ou Moussa, the saint of Tazrouelt, who regularily tour around Morocco and perform traditional religious dances at folk festivals and fairs. But now, the younger generations of dancers want to go to abroad to gain a foothold in the European circus and variety theatre business – just as the famous "Flying men" successfully did back in the 1920s. The makers of this documentary have accompanied a group of acrobats on their tour across Morocco, from Tanger to the pre-Sahara desert. The film material includes a visit to the tomb of Sidi Ahmed ou Moussa as well as shots taken during performances in France, Germany and London, where the last great Impresario lives. A film by Helge Weichmann |
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Sacred Spaces in North Africa"Sacred Spaces", the so called Marabus, are burial places of holy men of the Islamic world. Their tombs, usually walled-in and having a dome-shaped roof, are often to be found at intersections between spaces and elements, as for example on river banks, seashores and at the foot of mountain ranges. This dimension already symbolizes the transition from immanency to the transcendency - from a secular to a spiritual sphere. This film presents a variety of Marabus of the North-African world and explains the context between secular/worldly and symbolic/spiritual reality. A film by Helge Weichmann |
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Brazil 2004 (working title)A film documentary of a geographical field trip across the southern part of this vast country. Here, Europe seems to be much closer than what normally is considered to be "typical" South-America. Local history museums, local costume groups and folk dancing groups , keep alive the memory of their ancestors who had immigrated from Europe a long time ago. But the keeping up of tradition is not put on the same level with deadlocked rituals. the past which has come to life again is inseparably connected with a sensual and visible joy of life. Scenic and Touristic landmarks like the cataracts of Iguacu or the throbbing metropolis of Rio de Janeiro show in which manner Brazil defines and sells its own image – and how social justice is ignored at the same time. A film by Helge Weichmann |
