9° FESTIVAL INTERNAZIONALE CINEMA GIOVANI
Special Screenings 1991

Just Visiting This Planet - die Winterreise

by Peter Sempel
Country: Germany
Year: 1991
Duration: 100'


"An old horse named Kazuo Ohno flies across the heavens. With youthful spirit on a journey of discovery between Tokyo and New York, heart and mind, studio and kitchen. Kazuo Ohno, 84, the father of the Japanese Butoh dance, in a documentary fantasy film. Steps in the dark into the dark. As guests, Blixa Bargeld and Nina Hagen sing classical works for the old horse (Bargeld performing two songs from The Winter's Journey). Other younger dancers, students of Butoh, communicate with animals which also are 'present' in the studio. Ohno's wife and son, Yoshito, also participate as especially strong, fascinating and, at the same time, admirably simple people. Kazuo Ohno: 'I saw a very old horse with straggly hair nothing but hair and bones. It stood completely in the light of the radiant sun. It was stared at, but it remained standing there and didn't hide. Many people were allowed to ride it and it was happy. Living and dead people. They were flowers'. Kázuo Ohno is a king of the outsiders. He calls forth courage amidst the chaos of this world. But sometimes fear as well. His basic principle: 'Be free!'." (Peter Sempel).

Biography

film director

Peter Sempel

Peter Sempel was born in Hamburg but he grew up in Australia. He returned to Germany in 1968 and enrolled at the University of Hamburg to study American literature. His moviemaking follows his passion for music, especially for the music of Einsturzende Neubauten, Nick Cave and Lou Reed. Sempel is one of the most original and "extreme" figures in contemporary independent cinema, accompanying his films around the world, and is always on the look-out for new experimentations. Jonas at the Ocean is the ideal continuation of Jonas in the Desert (1994). He recently finished Lemmy, a long documentary on the leader of the Motörhead.

FILMOGRAFIA

The Wild Raven (1984), Burning Raven (1985), Dandy (1988), Just Visiting This Planet (1991), Jonas in the Desert (1994), Hustler for Life (1997-8), Punk + Glory (1999), Jonas at the Ocean (2002), Lemmy (2002).

Cast

& Credits

Director, screenplay and editor: Peter Sempel.
Director of photography: Jonas Scholz, Peter Sempel, Frank Blasberg.
Sound: Roxana Herbst, Jurgen Wolter.
Cast: Kazuo Ohno, Chie Ohno, Yoshito Ohno, Tama Ohno, Keiko Ohno, Tomiko Takai, Ko Murobushi, Urara, Blixa Bargeld, Nina Hagen, Jonas Mekas, Tanya Khalbarowa.
Produzione e vendita all'estero: Blitze im Eierbecher / Peter Sempel, 0hIendorffstrasse 18, 2000 Hamburg 26, tel. 2500468.
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