H A I R.

Hi Barbie!
Lily Donaldson, shot by Matthew Donaldson

darling, i think there's a chinese family standing in our bathroom.

culinary cinema

As a kid, I repeatedly refused to try peanut butter & jelly sandwiches because I was convinced that there could be no way two so seemingly different things could go well together. Imagine how distraught I was when, at the age of 14, I reluctantly had a tiny bite of my sister's pb&j sandwich... and realized I had just tasted one of the best snacks of all time!

I share this anecdote because I firmly believe that some facts exist simply to be proven wrong. Like the fact that when you go to the movies, you should eat popcorn. Or nachos with cheese dip. And lots of candy on the side. I remember various instances at which I exited the cinema feeling like a junkfood wastebasket, not at all content with myself. Little did I know that one day, I would be introduced to the concept of 'culinary cinema'.

The idea is simple: participants first attend the private screening of a selected film, which is preceded by introductory words of the film's director. Afterwards, they take part in a group lunch (or dinner), which is prepared to match and reflect the previously seen film.

My friends and I went to see The Rainbow Warriors of Waiheke Island, a documentary by the dutch film maker Suzanne Raes. The movie tells the story of a group of first-generation Greenpeace activists, who set sail on an old barge with the intention of protecting mother earth from the dangers of nuclear waste transports, whale hunting and other risky businesses. Scene snippets from old Greenpeace film archives are contrasted with coverage of the former crew member's live's today. The focus of the film lies not only on an accurate depiction of the activists' lifestyle in the seventies and eighties, but also on the detonation of two bombs in 1985 which had been placed on the ship by french secret service agents, destroying the vessel and killing a crew member.



After seeing The Rainbow Warriors of Waiheke Island, we enjoyed a meal prepared by Wam Kat, peace activist and former crew member of the Rainbow Warrior himself! Although his days of sailing the seas are over, Wam Kat is still a vehement peace activist. He works as a cook at political protests and demonstrations around the world, and has recently publish a book entitled 24 Rezepte zur Kulinarischen Weltverbesserung (recipes for improving the world through culinary means). Subsequently, the 3-course menue which he prepared for us consisted entirely of vegan and wholefood products. My personal favourite: vegan apple crumble. Hmmmm!

.Q & A session with Raes and Wam Kat

99fire film award ceremony: review

"I was just in it for the thrill, the concept is so unique" one of the contestants told me at last week's 99fire films awards ceremony in the Berliner Admiralspalast. Admittedly, he did look very snug: suited up, free drink in hand, and surrounded by prominent figures of the German TV- and film industry. Probably a little more exciting than the average German twenty-something's Thursday night...

The grand prize of 9.999€ went to Sofia Bavas and her crew for their film "Zinkowski - Gegen den Rost der Welt". Further awards were given out in the category "Best Camera" and "Best Idea". All winning submissions can be viewed on the 99fire films website.

Bavas and her crew receiving their award from German actress Bettina Zimmermann.

filmtastic.

It's times like the Berlinale when you wish the day had 48 hours and things like school and work didn't exist: a world in which all you had to do was sit back in the red velvet seats of a cinema, armed with pocorn and ready to enjoy the screening of yet another brilliant film.

Sadly, this dream world is as far away from my reality as it could possibly be at this point in time. Final exams are inching closer and closer, and leisure has become I vaguely remember from Christmas break. But - enough with the whining, life is too short to waste it with complaints and self-pity! That in mind, I ventured out of the coziness of my apartment and into the snowy city to see what this year's Berlinale had to offer.

Apart from attracting esteemed figures of the international film industry, the Berlinale also serves as a great platform for up-and-coming film makers. I was able to watch Zona Sur (directed by Juan Carlos Valdivia), the first Bolivian film ever to be part of the Berlinale. While Zona Sur has already been screened at various international film festivals and can boast a number of award nominations, hispanic cinema remains underrepresented in our culture - which is a shame, considering the masterpiece that Zona Sur can rightfully be described as. I shy away from trying to summarize and analyze the film, since it's images and dialogues speak far louder than the written word can.



To find out more about the film, visit the official website.

99 seconds...

... isn't a lot of time. Barely enough to eat a Snickers bar, and not even close to the time it takes for my internet browser to open after I restart my computer. 99 seconds can pass so quickly, unnoticed and insignificant.

Sometimes, however, 99 seconds is more than enough time. Take the 99 fire films award, for example. It was created in 2009 and serves as a platform for everyone willing to dive into the creative pool of film making. Amateur directors and film fanatics are just as welcome as anybody else to register online and participate in the competition.

This year's registration is already closed - and time has run out! Competitors had exactly 99 hours to produce a short film on a specific topic, which has yet to be revealed. Nine lucky finalists will present their work at the official awards ceremony in the Admiralspalast Berlin on Thursday, Feburary 18th. The winner of the 99 fire films award will then receive the prize of - you guessed it - 9.999€. Further prizes will be awarded in the categories 'best camera' and 'best idea'.

Screenshots of the winning submission of 2009, "Schlafstörung":


This event is running simultaneously to the Berlinale, Berlin's international film festival, which I will soon be reporting back from - so keep comin' back for more ;)

fake freckles

Spotted on the runway for Tillmann Lauterbach, Mens Fashion Week in Paris. As seen in the film "Männer mit Make-Up" by Nathalie Weiss, the freckles were airbrushed on with a self-made stencil. Makes me wish it was summer again!

4 minutes

The following short film was created by students of the Institute of Fashion and Textile Design at the University of the Arts Berlin. It features original designs by students of the university and doubles as an homage to a newly emerging medium: the 'fashion film'. In my humble opinion, this production is a highly aesthetic blend of visual and audio stimuli. Chapeau!

Throughout Berlin Fashion Week, "4 Minutes" will be screened in the Galeries Lafayette (Friedrichstraße 76-78, 10117 Berlin).

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