Christoph Valentien

Electronic Vibrations: A Sound Changes the World

The amazing story of electronic music: its epic journey from its origins in Europe, at the hands of the great artists of the post-war classical avant-garde, to the great post-industrial cities of the USA, where this genre of genres took over music stores, shady clubs and, eventually, the big stages.

Robert Wilson: The Beauty of the Mysterious

We look back at more than half a century of mysterious artistic creation while trying to crack a unique artistic code. Why are people moved to tears when Robert “Bob” Wilson puts minimalistic petrol pumps into a production of Shakespeare’s sonnets? Why does merciless repetition change our understanding of something? Together with Tom Waits, Willem Dafoe or Marina Abramović we trace back our own experience of Bob’s art. Is it true what Philipp Glass the collaborator of the milestone piece “Einstein on the Beach” laughingly and with apparent pleasure exclaims “what does it mean? It doesn’t mean anything!”?

From Atatürk to Erdoğan: Building a Nation

Turkey's history has been shaped by two major political figures: Mustafa Kemal (1881-1934), known as Atatürk, the Father of the Turks, founder of the modern state, and the current president Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan, who apparently wants Turkey to regain the political and military pre-eminence it had as an empire under the Ottoman dynasty.

Reggae Boyz

Plagued with poverty and violence, Jamaica tries to inspire its populace by qualifying their national team, the 'Reggae Boyz', for the World Cup. When their efforts start to fall short, Winnie Schäfer, a colorful German coach, teams up with reggae musicians to unite Jamaica beyond the soccer pitch.

Leonard Bernstein: A Genius Divided

One of the first US born conductors to receive worldwide fame, Leonard Bernstein is an exceptional composer and certainly not only due to The West Side Story. Instead of concentrating exclusively on his most famous work, Thomas von Steinaecker sets out to paint a complete picture of Bernstein. Thus, the documentary focusses on the American’s less known later works and on three compositions in particular: his Mass, the musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the great final opera A Quiet Place. The film paints a vivid picture of the multitalented Bernstein, struggling with his role as composer and conductor, tackling the tension between successes and flops, between the politics of his time and his own liberal humanitarian claim. It looks back on Bernstein’s major achievements, such as his acclaimed conducting of Mahler and his involvement in the Young People’s Concerts, and it shows Bernstein’s work with young aspiring musicians as well as his political commitment.

Die Begegnung der Inseln

This film begins with black women dancing and black men expressing their praise: They are praising Austria. For over ten years, the 'alpine republic' has been cooperating with the ten parched Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic Ocean near the west coast of Africa. In total, seven completely different projects are presented and evaluated critically. In passing, the viewer also learns something about the country and its people: Young people curse the beautiful archipelago, calling it a hole, a prison, hell... They are unable to find work. The individual character of the Austrian projects enable the cinematic discussion of some basic concepts of development politics. This film takes a look, both affectionate and critical, at a distant and exotic country which comes closer to us the longer The Meeting of the Islands lasts.

Santa Smokes

A struggling actor takes a job as a Santa to make ends meet. During his voyage from aspiring actor to Santa-provocateur, he finds bittersweet romance and reveals the dark side of Santa Claus.