W A S S E R H A U S
A R A B I C _ A U S T R I A N _ F I L M P R O J E C T S
THE ONE DOLLAR STORY - YEMEN - international film project
Background and story of a unique documentary: In 2005, a
filmmaker-couple flies to Vietnam, initially, with the sole intention of
going on vacation, not even packing their camera. On arriving in Hanoi,
images of reality came thick, fast, condensed; on each real, on each
virtual street corner, at every step, street kids + dealers leap into
the path of the tourist to sell them meaningless, valueless junk for a
buck. Rapidly, reality shapes the way forward. The filmmakers buy a
camera on the spot, and start hawking their own "one dollar" - for
anyone who tells a story to the camera.
[07/12/2009 04:02:48] Sun Tzu Viento: The images that spring to life
from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City are snapshots. The one dollar stories -
hidden in the as yet-untranslated Vietnamese language - are bought like
pigs in a poke. On translation, back in Austria, only seeds are found of
what these people might have related, if they hadn't been too busy
haggling for the next buck around the next corner.
[07/12/2009 04:04:53] Sun Tzu Viento: Two years later, the same
filmmaker-couple travel again, with their "seed-experience" in Yemen,
this time with camera packed, and an invitation from the German Cultural
Institute in Sana, as an author. Her recently-published novel "yemend"
("Someone") is translated in Arabic and will be presented with a
lecture. Following this, the filmmakers screen the Vietnamese "Dollar
Stories" and invite the audience to sell them stories. They're in luck.
From then on, they are sold one dollar stories by Poets Laureate,
managers, philosophers, businessmen, sheiks.... In a zone of humanity
where nobody lifts a finger for one single dollar, without additional
zeros attached, "One Dollar" becomes a symbol for entry into a world of
deep-rooted inner importances and truths.
Bernadette Stummer
IDEA: Arne Marchart INTERVIEWS: Patricia Marchart CAMERA&EDIT: Arne und Patricia Marchart J/A 2007 60 min
sponsored by Kulturland OÖ and Linz Kultur
www.visioncraft.at
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