Vor Zeit

The Polish village of Krasiejów, a site of paleontological excavations and a dinosaur park, lies in Silesia, a region steeped in history and marked by migration, which to this day remains scarred by the consequences of Nazi tyranny. Representing the filmmaker, whose grandfather was from the region, a young woman can be seen searching for traces. She encounters people of German and Polish descent, statues and monuments, a local history museum, a paintball field for war games, Nazi architecture, and gigantic sculptures of dinosaurs. In her hybrid film VOR ZEIT (Time Before Land, G 2021) Juliane Henrich brings manifestations of the past into the present. She combines orchestration, sound design, and her own off-screen remarks with documentary observation. Her camera is interested in relics such as the layers of rock, fossils, footprints and plastic bags, revealing (more or less) historical sediments and inscriptions. (bik)