Saloon Nothingness: Geoffrey und Mert

Interview with Frizz Magazine

Olga Morskov · October 15, 2016 · Presse · 0 comments

Elena Reinhard led an interview about our group for Frizz Magazine (page 12)

Since the original entry is only available in german, we provide a translated version.

 

Article:
Mainz in Cannes

Whoever thought that only stars from Hollywood’s film industry meet up at the International Film Festival in Cannes is mistaken. A small crew of filmmakers from Mainz was able to present its short films this year and the year before.

“In the Pit” and “Saloon Nothingness” are the productions by young director Laurenz Lin Sill and screenplay-author Leon Pietsch. While the 21- and 22-year olds presented their film 2015 with only a crew of four people, this year their number has risen to 50 collaborators. “Both times we applied for the festival’s ‘Short Film Corner’,” tells Leon. “Both times we were accepted.” In the “Short Film Corner” filmmakers from all over the world meet up to present their films and to exchange experiences. “Cannes is like a big party where you meet incredibly interesting people and socialize,” says the 21-year old. Sometimes one can even catch a look on film stars. “Sure, it was an exciting experience but we try to not overrate it. The things that really matter are created before Cannes. They are merely displayed there.”

Leon Pietsch studied History of Cultures and Ideas for four semesters in Karslruhe. The following fall he will visit the Filmacademy of Baden-Württemberg to start his screenplay-courses. “I was in the middle of my preparations for the Abitur when Laurenz and me were working on our first short film,” the author explains, who wrote both screenplays for the last films. He got to know director Laurenz a couple of years ago through a schoolmate – the biggest similarity between the two was their enthusiasm for art.
What I most like about filmmaking is to observe what texts can develop into,” Leon says, seeing himself as a writer first. “My texts by themselves cannot move anything on their own. Only packed into a film these texts can draw attention to themselves and set something off in people.” It was the text that laid the groundwork for the first short film. “Laurenz and me where at a point in our lives where nothing was moving forward. We had the feeling of complete stagnation,” Leon remembers. “I knew that we had to create something in order to get out of this daily grind. So I asked him if he thought that my text could be turned into a film. And that’s what we did.” Director Laurenz is studying Painting at the Academy of Arts in Mainz and delivered the drawings the film is built out of. “It was really difficult and took a long amount of time to animate Laurenz’s pen-and-ink drawings.” Eventually, the film was completed in January 2015.

Ever since then both of them are hooked. Today their group consists of 20 young and diverse people with talents in acting, painting, music and IT. Calling themselves “Leviathan” their goal is to build a network for creative ideas and sharing them. “We are a colourful group that wants to accomplish something with its films. Everyone is doing their part, because we can only create and change things when working together,” Leon explains. What makes this group special is that one does not have to have a professional education to work on any of the group’s projects. All one needs is an idea and the conviction to express something. “Everyone finds their place here,” Leon says. “I belief that more is slumbering in a person than they might know themselves. In our collective everyone can do his individual share to reach our united goal.”

There are already a number of projects planned for the following months: the next films are supposed to be socially critical and observe everyday life from a number of different perspectives. “Film is form of art for us. It unites different arts: acting, music, poetry and much more,” Leon explains. “Art shouldn’t just be entertaining but should also move something. It should shed some light on the things, society often leaves in the dark.” The group around Leon and Laurenz is not afraid of reality. They are working consciously in unconventional ways to creative something innovative that characterizes their films.

 

This is the link to the original article.

FRIZZ-Magazin 09/2016

Leave a Comment!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *