Radio play: Under Snow

"In the mid-19th century, the textile merchant Bokushi Suzuki described the festivals and rituals of the inhabitants of Echigo, Japan, a region where it snows unusually heavily, with snow piling up several meters high and remaining on the ground until May, in a book whose title translates as Snow stories of North Etsu Province. With this travelogue in my luggage, I set off for the snow country in the winter of 2010/11 to track down the myths and fairy tales of the past in the present." (Ulrike Ottinger)

Ulrike Ottinger's fascination with the snowy landscapes of Japan, where people have developed a unique way of living and their own culture around snow, resulted not only in the film Unter Schnee (Under Snow), but also in a radio play of the same name, in which the director combined sounds from daily life, festivals and rituals in Echigo, Japan, with a story from the Edo period, to create a fascinating blend of documentary and fiction. The crunch of snow underfoot and the sound of the wind can be heard, as can some of the 22 different words for snow (including powder snow, bamboo grass snow, mochi snow) and the voice of Hanns Zischler, who tells the story of two students, Takeo and Mako, from the Edo period. On their arduous path during a holiday in the snow country, they come across a beautiful snow woman and the spirit of a fox and are transformed. A journey through both the mythical and real snow country begins: they meet women who weave long pieces of fabric from the finest threads of flax, observe the traditional groom-throwing ritual at a wedding and see preparations for a festival in a temple. Bamboo flute music, the sound of drums and song accompanied by Yumiko Tanaka on the shamisen provide the soundtrack.

We invite everyone to immerse themselves in the sound and landscape of the Japanese snow country in the Kuppelhalle of silent green (Gerichtstr. 35, Berlin-Wedding) and to then discuss it with the director.