by Heinz Peter Schwerfel, France 2014, 26'
| CAMERA: Kyle Fasanella | PRODUCER: Anne Schuchman | |
| EDITING: Philippe La Bruyère | PRODUCTION and DISTRIBUTION: | |
| SOUND: Brett Van Deusen | LANGUAGE: Russian, French |
Presented at Lo schermo dell'arte Film Festival 2014
The film retraces the work of Moscow underground figures Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, with images of their artworks, which the director filmed over the course of 20 years, and a long interview conducted in their studio-house on Long Island. During their journey of exile, the Kabakov’s made Cité etrange, an immense installation for the nave of the Grand Palais, at Monumenta 2014. In their conversation with Schwerfel, they speak about their search for concepts of utopia and ideal cities, which they worked on for the major Paris show. The film shows their sketches and maquettes. Isolated in the West, where they were never really able to integrate, the artist-couple also reveal other sensual, spiritual, poetical and political works, which turn on the question of the defeat of the Communist utopia in which they lived before they left for the United States in 1987.
Heinz Peter Schwerfel
Born 1954 in Cologne, lives in Paris as a filmmaker and art critic. He has published several books on contemporary artists such as Georg Baselitz, Jannis Kounellis, Markus Lüpertz. His films have been shown in retrospectives at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the National Art Museum of Helsinki, the Filmoteca Nacional in Mexico City, the Museo Malba of Buenos Aires, among others. He is founder and artistic director of KunstFilmBiennale, Cologne (2002 – 2009), and of the artists’ film festival Kino der Kunst, Munich (since 2013).
Selected Filmography
2013 Art and Adventure: The Private Sculpture Park Inhotim 2012 Daniel Buren at the Grand Palais 2011 The World According to Kapoor; China and the Art of the Enlightenment 2010 Annette Messager: Pudique et publique 2009 The Possible Lives of Christian Boltanski; Julian Rosefeldt – American Night
www.schuchprod.com
The film retraces the work of Moscow underground figures Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, with images of their artworks, which the director filmed over the course of 20 years, and a long interview conducted in their studio-house on Long Island. During their journey of exile, the Kabakov’s made Cité etrange, an immense installation for the nave of the Grand Palais, at Monumenta 2014. In their conversation with Schwerfel, they speak about their search for concepts of utopia and ideal cities, which they worked on for the major Paris show. The film shows their sketches and maquettes. Isolated in the West, where they were never really able to integrate, the artist-couple also reveal other sensual, spiritual, poetical and political works, which turn on the question of the defeat of the Communist utopia in which they lived before they left for the United States in 1987.
Heinz Peter Schwerfel
Born 1954 in Cologne, lives in Paris as a filmmaker and art critic. He has published several books on contemporary artists such as Georg Baselitz, Jannis Kounellis, Markus Lüpertz. His films have been shown in retrospectives at the Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the National Art Museum of Helsinki, the Filmoteca Nacional in Mexico City, the Museo Malba of Buenos Aires, among others. He is founder and artistic director of KunstFilmBiennale, Cologne (2002 – 2009), and of the artists’ film festival Kino der Kunst, Munich (since 2013).
Selected Filmography
2013 Art and Adventure: The Private Sculpture Park Inhotim 2012 Daniel Buren at the Grand Palais 2011 The World According to Kapoor; China and the Art of the Enlightenment 2010 Annette Messager: Pudique et publique 2009 The Possible Lives of Christian Boltanski; Julian Rosefeldt – American Night
www.schuchprod.com