Spuren von Bewegung vor dem Eis

Traces of Movement Before the Ice

Forum 2024

The film gives brief glimpses into rooms bathed in light. The Bolex camera whirs. Twenty years after the closure of Swiss publishing house Pendo, which was founded in 1971, its story is revealed by way of personification: heir Theresia Weigner and her partner, who repeatedly circle, examine and lose sight again of this legacy with all the weight it carries. Here articles of memory are piled high, cared for, stashed away. Remaining stock, no longer hot off the press, but still packaged up for sale, unfinished manuscripts, cover designs, cassettes, office supplies, correspondence and tax documents are all laid out like in a time capsule: books by Margarete Mitscherlich, Dorothee Sölle, Dom Hélder Câmara, illustrated volumes about Robert Lax or the Sihl Valley. René Frölke’s film gives a structure to this archive and becomes a simple chamber of wonders. He finds his own annotations within the inner pull exerted by the artefacts and accompanies these stubborn, overwhelmed preservers on their way through their everyday life amid the piles of material. Written elements from the film script also play a part.
At the end of the corridor, jazz music sounds from a small radio.

by René Frölke Germany 2024 German, English, French, Swiss German 89’ Colour World premiere | Documentary form

Crew

Director	René Frölke
Screenplay	René Frölke, Ann Carolin Renninger
Cinematography	René Frölke
Editing	René Frölke
Music	Tessa Weigner
Producer	Ann Carolin Renninger

Produced by

joon film

http://joonfilm.de http://joonfilm.de

Photos

René Frölke

Born in East Germany in 1978. He has worked as a freelance editor, cinematographer and director for many years. In 2007, he started studying art in Karlsruhe, which he broke off in 2012. As an editor, he was worked with Thomas Heise (including on Material), Kristina Konrad (One or Two Questions), Lucia Bauer (Maman Maman Maman) and Max Linz (Asta Upset, Music and Apocalypse). Since 2010, he has directed several films of his own, including Le beau danger and From a Year of Non-Events (co-directed with Ann Carolin Renninger), which both screened in the Berlinale Forum.

Filmography

2007 Jour de grève; 14 min. 2008 Ropinsalmi; 12 min. 2010 Führung (Guided Tour); 37 min., Forum Expanded 2011 · Von der Vermählung des Salamanders mit der grünen Schlange; 94 min. 2012 Jeremy Y. call Bobby O. oder Morgenthau Without Tears; 84 min. 2014 Le beau danger; 100 min., Berlinale Forum 2014 2017 Aus einem Jahr der Nichtereignisse (From a Year of Non-Events) 2024 Spuren von Bewegung vor dem Eis (Traces of Movement before the Ice); documentary

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2024