16mm
240min
silent
Manfred Schwaba 2025
Screening 03.07.2026 Austrian Filmmuseum
What thoughts and ideas come to mind while watching a four-hour film depicting the ocean? How does the body react, where do the mind wander? Currently, there is an urgent need for reduction, for differentiated perception. A need to focus attention, to move away from distraction as a permanent state.
The sea is open, abstract, unfathomable and endless. The sea is the origin of life. It is an essential factor in the development of our future. It significantly influences the global climate. Where are we heading in the future? It made sense to me to shoot this film without the use of external energy, i.e. using only muscle power and wind. Therefore, I filmed from a sailing ship with the Bolex H16, a spring-driven handheld camera. The time people take for something is – apparently – becoming increasingly precious. Four hours in the cinema are a valuable time. The material should reflect this: 16mm film. Every scene is unique – there are no repetitions. There was no computer between the shooting on the sailing ship and the viewing in the cinema. The contact copy makes it possible to experience this perception experiment without any intermediate digital processing. Four hours of the infinity of the sea.
Realized with funding from the BMWKMS (Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport) and the State of Lower Austria
