Voices and Shells

It begins in the dark, in a corridor; water is flowing … voices echo in these sewer tunnels; it is the abyss of Munich, under the river Isar. The voices tell fragments of stories: about vanished people, violence, memory loss—while the camera is now above ground, scanning the city’s façades, including those of the “Third Reich.” The city appears as a body winding its way through time, past and present. Like a thread through memories, a spiral runs through it: a shell, a whirlpool, the turn of a staircase, the ever-recurring voices of the past. The film is a collage: it jumbles traces of history and forms of nature, bringing images, voices, and sounds from different sources to the same level. A story of living beings and living environments, of fossils that challenge our perception of time. (Maya Schweizer)

Maya Schweizer studied art and art history in Aix-en-Provence, at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (HGB), and at the University of the Arts (UdK) in Berlin. Schweizer works in different media, with a particular focus on experimental documentary. She has had numerous solo exhibitions and has shown her work in group exhibitions and at biennials. Her videos have been selected for numerous festivals and events. In 2017 her short film A TALL TALE was shown at Forum Expanded. Schweizer works in Germany and France.

Production Sabine Schmid, Maya Schweizer. Production company Maya Schweizer (Berlin, Germany). Written and directed by Maya Schweizer. Cinematography Maya Schweizer. Editing Maya Schweizer. Sound design Maya Schweizer. Sound mixing Joe Talia. With Samahar Steiner, Jo Heeyoung, Selma von Wedemeyer (Voice), Paulette Obedia (Other voice). 

Films

selection: 2003: Le pigeon (video installation, 2 min.), Your destiny depends on your lucky charm's mood (today) (8 min.). 2004: Encore la plage (10 min.). 2005: Après le maquis (4 min.), La Récréation (6 min.), Une collection (4 min.). 2006: Metropolis, Report from China (42 min.). 2007: Passing Down, Frame One (11 min.). 2008: From the Classroom (video installation, 6 min.), La corsa del venditore (8 min.). 2009: Before the Rehearsal (16 min.). 2010: Au dos de la carte postale (video installation, 16 min.). 2012: A Memorial, a Synagogue, a Bridge and a Church (12 min.). 2014: I, an Archeologist (20 min.), La Main Seule (3 min.), Le Soldat mourant des Milles / The Dying Soldier of Les Milles (13 min.), Sous les Jardins, Villa Torlonia (4 min.). 2016: Texture of Oblivion (18 min.). 2017: A Tall Tale (16 min., Forum Expanded 2017). 2018: Regarde par ici,... / Und dort die Puschkinallee (25 min.). 2019: Insolite (12 min.), L’Étoile de Mer / The Starfish (12 min.). 2020: Voices and Shells.