Left to fend for herself when she arrives in Hong Kong with protests in full swing, a German woman makes a series of chance encounters
Jonas Bak’s short debut feature, about a retired German mother who follows her son to Hong Kong, lingers at the checkpoint between fiction and documentary. Powerfully composed and comprised largely of characters monologuing over illustrative shots, it has the contemplative authority of non-fiction. But it is, nonetheless, still fiction, one that sets its slender story against a backdrop of fleeting time at first intimately evoked but which grows into something epic and almost sublime.
The widowed mother, pixie-cutted and subdued, takes family members, including her daughter (Theresa Bak), to her old house on the Baltic sea. There, the past is as visible as the marine horizon, but unreachable; one absentee is her son, Max, who has been working in Hong Kong. Newly retired from her job in a church,...
Jonas Bak’s short debut feature, about a retired German mother who follows her son to Hong Kong, lingers at the checkpoint between fiction and documentary. Powerfully composed and comprised largely of characters monologuing over illustrative shots, it has the contemplative authority of non-fiction. But it is, nonetheless, still fiction, one that sets its slender story against a backdrop of fleeting time at first intimately evoked but which grows into something epic and almost sublime.
The widowed mother, pixie-cutted and subdued, takes family members, including her daughter (Theresa Bak), to her old house on the Baltic sea. There, the past is as visible as the marine horizon, but unreachable; one absentee is her son, Max, who has been working in Hong Kong. Newly retired from her job in a church,...
- 9/26/2022
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
With most films seeking to get out of the shadow cast by a certain caped crusader, March is a bit of a lighter month than usual, but there remains a handful of recommendations. From offbeat festival favorites to the return of the erotic thriller to what’s sure to be one of the best sci-fi tales of the year, check out our picks below.
11. Jane by Charlotte (Charlotte Gainsbourg; March 18 in theaters)
After being in front of the camera for nearly four decades, Charlotte Gainsbourg gets personal with her directorial debut. Jane by Charlotte, which premiered at Cannes before playing NYFF and beyond, is a portrait of her mother, singer and actress Jane Birkin, as the pair reflect on their creative lives. As they discuss the pains and joys of their relationship, it promises an intimate look at the intricacies of a bond formed not only by blood, but also fiercely creative drives.
11. Jane by Charlotte (Charlotte Gainsbourg; March 18 in theaters)
After being in front of the camera for nearly four decades, Charlotte Gainsbourg gets personal with her directorial debut. Jane by Charlotte, which premiered at Cannes before playing NYFF and beyond, is a portrait of her mother, singer and actress Jane Birkin, as the pair reflect on their creative lives. As they discuss the pains and joys of their relationship, it promises an intimate look at the intricacies of a bond formed not only by blood, but also fiercely creative drives.
- 3/2/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
One of the most serene, tranquil tales of the last few years is German director Jonas Bak’s Wood and Water, a 16mm-shot feature that picked up an award upon its Berlinale premiere and stopped by Nd/Nf and BFI London, among other fests. With KimStim setting an NYC premiere at MoMA on March 24, an LA and national release to follow, we’re pleased to debut the trailer.
Led by Bak’s own mother, Anke Bak, the film follows her newly retired character who seeks to reconnect with her son Max, who lives in Hong Kong. Heading from Germany to this region of China, she embarks on a solo journey of soul-searching and connection.
As Glenn Heath Jr said in his Nd/Nf review, “Germany’s mountainous Black Forest region and Hong Kong Island couldn’t be more dissimilar in terms of terrain. Yet, Jonas Bak’s debut film Wood...
Led by Bak’s own mother, Anke Bak, the film follows her newly retired character who seeks to reconnect with her son Max, who lives in Hong Kong. Heading from Germany to this region of China, she embarks on a solo journey of soul-searching and connection.
As Glenn Heath Jr said in his Nd/Nf review, “Germany’s mountainous Black Forest region and Hong Kong Island couldn’t be more dissimilar in terms of terrain. Yet, Jonas Bak’s debut film Wood...
- 3/2/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2021, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.
It goes without saying that the past two years have been a lot for everyone to deal with. There were plenty of films released in 2021, but every aspect of the industry suffered through it. Productions dealt with new, costly protocols, festivals had to navigate physical and / or virtual events, distributors chose between theatrical exclusives or hybrid releases, exhibitors did everything they could to stay afloat, and everyone lost a ton of money in the process. There is no easy way out of this pandemic, but that’s not stopping anyone from burning through everything they can to find one.
Still, there were lots of things to see in 2021, and the spread of great to good to bad wasn’t particularly different from any other year. Some films...
It goes without saying that the past two years have been a lot for everyone to deal with. There were plenty of films released in 2021, but every aspect of the industry suffered through it. Productions dealt with new, costly protocols, festivals had to navigate physical and / or virtual events, distributors chose between theatrical exclusives or hybrid releases, exhibitors did everything they could to stay afloat, and everyone lost a ton of money in the process. There is no easy way out of this pandemic, but that’s not stopping anyone from burning through everything they can to find one.
Still, there were lots of things to see in 2021, and the spread of great to good to bad wasn’t particularly different from any other year. Some films...
- 1/7/2022
- by C.J. Prince
- The Film Stage
Specialty U.S. distribution company KimStim is to give a North American release to “Wood and Water,” a German-made feature set against the backdrop of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
The film premiered in the Deutsche Perspektive section of this year’s erlinaleand won the Compass-Perspektive Award special mention during the Berlin festival’s summer edition. It also scored at the New Directors/New Films festival at new York’s Lincoln Center.
It is the feature debut of Jonas Bak, who was previously based in London and Hong Kong, where he worked as a freelance film director and director of cinematography, before returning to his native Germany.
“Wood and Water” was shot on 16mm film and is loosely inspired by real events. The film’s lead role is played by Bak’s mother Anke, as she finds herself facing the void of retirement. A trip to Hong Kong, where...
The film premiered in the Deutsche Perspektive section of this year’s erlinaleand won the Compass-Perspektive Award special mention during the Berlin festival’s summer edition. It also scored at the New Directors/New Films festival at new York’s Lincoln Center.
It is the feature debut of Jonas Bak, who was previously based in London and Hong Kong, where he worked as a freelance film director and director of cinematography, before returning to his native Germany.
“Wood and Water” was shot on 16mm film and is loosely inspired by real events. The film’s lead role is played by Bak’s mother Anke, as she finds herself facing the void of retirement. A trip to Hong Kong, where...
- 7/15/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Juja Dobrachkous on the girls in Bebia, À Mon Seul Désir: “Most of the actors were non-professional actors and I wanted this absolutely natural effect.”
Juja Dobrachkous’ debut feature Bebia, À Mon Seul Désir, produced with Olga Dykhovichnaya, and shot by Veronica Solovyeva in black and white, joins Amalia Ulman’s El Planeta and Jonas Bak’s Wood And Water as the third highlight of the 50th anniversary edition of New Directors/New Films that confronts a child’s relationship to a looming-large mother. Iva Radivojevic’s not-to-be-missed Aleph is the other early highlight.
Juja Dobrachkous: “I kind of enforced my structure with the Greek classical structure, which just enriches and makes it fun to write and shoot it.”
Told in two time strands, we see little Ariadna (Anushka Andronikashvili) interact with her surroundings and observe the strained dynamics at home. When 17-year-old Ariadna (Anastasia Davidson), now a model in London,...
Juja Dobrachkous’ debut feature Bebia, À Mon Seul Désir, produced with Olga Dykhovichnaya, and shot by Veronica Solovyeva in black and white, joins Amalia Ulman’s El Planeta and Jonas Bak’s Wood And Water as the third highlight of the 50th anniversary edition of New Directors/New Films that confronts a child’s relationship to a looming-large mother. Iva Radivojevic’s not-to-be-missed Aleph is the other early highlight.
Juja Dobrachkous: “I kind of enforced my structure with the Greek classical structure, which just enriches and makes it fun to write and shoot it.”
Told in two time strands, we see little Ariadna (Anushka Andronikashvili) interact with her surroundings and observe the strained dynamics at home. When 17-year-old Ariadna (Anastasia Davidson), now a model in London,...
- 4/30/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Germany’s mountainous Black Forest region and Hong Kong Island couldn’t be more dissimilar in terms of terrain. Yet, Jonas Bak’s debut film Wood and Water spiritually connects these two epic spaces for a retired church administrator named Anke (played by the filmmaker’s own mother) entering a time of great transition. Not surprisingly, one of the film’s most important dialogue sequences ends with someone noting, “It’s funny how things coincide.”
Raising three children as a stay-at-home mom has left Anke anchored to a very specific perspective on the world for many decades. Early in the film she joins her two daughters at a Baltic Sea hideaway to relive some of their favorite past memories. A sense of yearning and nostalgia swirl up with the lapping waves and inclement weather. Absent is her son Max, who remains stuck in Hong Kong because of the ongoing protests...
Raising three children as a stay-at-home mom has left Anke anchored to a very specific perspective on the world for many decades. Early in the film she joins her two daughters at a Baltic Sea hideaway to relive some of their favorite past memories. A sense of yearning and nostalgia swirl up with the lapping waves and inclement weather. Absent is her son Max, who remains stuck in Hong Kong because of the ongoing protests...
- 4/30/2021
- by Glenn Heath Jr.
- The Film Stage
One of the highlights of this year’s edition of New Directors/New Films, Jonas Bak’s strong feature film debut Wood and Water stars his own mother, Anke. Shot on 16mm in both the director’s native Germany and Hong Kong, where Bak is currently based, Wood and Water follows Anke in the immediate days following her retirement. When she leaves her small town to visit her long-gone son in Hong Kong, Anke finds herself adjacent to the protests unfolding there. With a keen compositional eye, palpable warmth towards all the strangers she meets and the occasional musical assist from Brian Eno’s New Space Music, Wood and […]
The post Trailer Watch: New Directors/New Films 2021 Selection Wood and Water first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: New Directors/New Films 2021 Selection Wood and Water first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 4/22/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
One of the highlights of this year’s edition of New Directors/New Films, Jonas Bak’s strong feature film debut Wood and Water stars his own mother, Anke. Shot on 16mm in both the director’s native Germany and Hong Kong, where Bak is currently based, Wood and Water follows Anke in the immediate days following her retirement. When she leaves her small town to visit her long-gone son in Hong Kong, Anke finds herself adjacent to the protests unfolding there. With a keen compositional eye, palpable warmth towards all the strangers she meets and the occasional musical assist from Brian Eno’s New Space Music, Wood and […]
The post Trailer Watch: New Directors/New Films 2021 Selection Wood and Water first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: New Directors/New Films 2021 Selection Wood and Water first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 4/22/2021
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Wood And Water director Jonas Bak on Anke Bak: “It was important to show the mother reminiscing about the past and maybe living more in the past than in the present.”
Jonas Bak’s unhurried Wood and Water, starring his mother Anke Bak, is a highlight of the 50th anniversary edition of New Directors/New Films and will screen in the summer edition of the 71st Berlin International Film Festival. I see a thread developing from the Nd/Nf feature committee, as the Opening Night selection, Amalia Ulman’s El Planeta, also stars the director’s mother (Ale Ulman).
Bak’s debut feature with the help of remarkable, thought-provoking cinematography by Alexandru Grigoras, the music of Brian Eno, and a Chinese fortune teller, the nostalgia for “beautiful, quiet, normal family life,” shifts slowly into a different gear.
Anke retires from her church job in a small picturesque town in the Black Forest.
Jonas Bak’s unhurried Wood and Water, starring his mother Anke Bak, is a highlight of the 50th anniversary edition of New Directors/New Films and will screen in the summer edition of the 71st Berlin International Film Festival. I see a thread developing from the Nd/Nf feature committee, as the Opening Night selection, Amalia Ulman’s El Planeta, also stars the director’s mother (Ale Ulman).
Bak’s debut feature with the help of remarkable, thought-provoking cinematography by Alexandru Grigoras, the music of Brian Eno, and a Chinese fortune teller, the nostalgia for “beautiful, quiet, normal family life,” shifts slowly into a different gear.
Anke retires from her church job in a small picturesque town in the Black Forest.
- 4/21/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center Thursday announces the complete lineup for the 50th anniversary edition of New Directors/New Films rolling out April 28 – May 8. The films will screen both virtually and at the Flc theater through May 13, making it the first NYC fest to return to the big screen.
Opening night will feature Amalia Ulman’s El Planeta, a portrait of a mother and daughter barely scraping by in Spain’s northwestern seaside town of Gijón. The event will close with All Light, Everywhere, director Theo Anthony’s winner of a Sundance Jury Prize for Experimentation in Nonfiction. Anthony’s follow-up to Rat Film, All Light, Everywhere uses U.S. law enforcement bodycam footage as a treatise on perception, power, and policing.
The fest will showcase 27 films and 11 shorts.
A free virtual retrospective celebrating 50 years of Nd/Nf will be available from April 16-28.
“From intimate,...
Opening night will feature Amalia Ulman’s El Planeta, a portrait of a mother and daughter barely scraping by in Spain’s northwestern seaside town of Gijón. The event will close with All Light, Everywhere, director Theo Anthony’s winner of a Sundance Jury Prize for Experimentation in Nonfiction. Anthony’s follow-up to Rat Film, All Light, Everywhere uses U.S. law enforcement bodycam footage as a treatise on perception, power, and policing.
The fest will showcase 27 films and 11 shorts.
A free virtual retrospective celebrating 50 years of Nd/Nf will be available from April 16-28.
“From intimate,...
- 4/1/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
The Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center have today announced the 50th anniversary edition of New Directors/New Films (Nd/Nf), this year available in both virtual and in-theater settings, marking it as the first New York City festival to return to live screenings since the pandemic began. This year’s festival will introduce 27 features and 11 shorts to audiences nationwide in the MoMA and Flc virtual cinemas, and to New Yorkers at Film at Lincoln Center. The festival will open with Amalia Ulman’s “El Planeta” and close with Theo Anthony’s “All Light, Everywhere,” both of which premiered at Sundance in January.
This year’s edition will mark the second time the festival has offered a virtual arm: the festival’s original March 2020 dates were postponed when pandemic shutdowns took hold, with the series eventually opting to go virtual for its 49th edition, rolling out last December.
This year’s edition will mark the second time the festival has offered a virtual arm: the festival’s original March 2020 dates were postponed when pandemic shutdowns took hold, with the series eventually opting to go virtual for its 49th edition, rolling out last December.
- 4/1/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center have announced the 50th anniversary edition of New Directors/ New Films.
The annual program will be held virtually on April 28 through May 8, with in-person screening extending through May 14 at Film at Lincoln Center.
This year’s festival is introducing 27 features and 11 short films. Unique to the 2021 edition, there will be a free virtual retrospective to celebrate the past 50 years of New Directors/ New Films running from April 16 through April 28.
“From intimate, personal tales to political, metaphysical, and spiritual inquiries, the films in the 50th edition of New Directors/New Films embody an inexhaustible curiosity and a fearless desire for adventure,” said La Frances Hui, curator of Film at The Museum of Modern Art and 2021 New Directors/New Films co-chair. “They prove that cinema will continue to illuminate and inspire the way we live, and make art.”
Writer and director Amalia Ulman...
The annual program will be held virtually on April 28 through May 8, with in-person screening extending through May 14 at Film at Lincoln Center.
This year’s festival is introducing 27 features and 11 short films. Unique to the 2021 edition, there will be a free virtual retrospective to celebrate the past 50 years of New Directors/ New Films running from April 16 through April 28.
“From intimate, personal tales to political, metaphysical, and spiritual inquiries, the films in the 50th edition of New Directors/New Films embody an inexhaustible curiosity and a fearless desire for adventure,” said La Frances Hui, curator of Film at The Museum of Modern Art and 2021 New Directors/New Films co-chair. “They prove that cinema will continue to illuminate and inspire the way we live, and make art.”
Writer and director Amalia Ulman...
- 4/1/2021
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
New features from ‘Thunder Road’ director Jim Cummings and Denis Cote among line-up.
The Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled the features that will comprise its Encounters and Panorama strands, which will first be seen at the industry-focused, online-only event from March 1-5.
Panorama will include 19 titles, of which 16 are world premieres, while Encounters includes 12 features, all world premieres.
Like other strands that have been slimmed down for this year’s first virtual edition, Panorama is nearly half of the 36 titles that were selected last year. However, the Encounters competition, now in its second year, is just three titles fewer...
The Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled the features that will comprise its Encounters and Panorama strands, which will first be seen at the industry-focused, online-only event from March 1-5.
Panorama will include 19 titles, of which 16 are world premieres, while Encounters includes 12 features, all world premieres.
Like other strands that have been slimmed down for this year’s first virtual edition, Panorama is nearly half of the 36 titles that were selected last year. However, the Encounters competition, now in its second year, is just three titles fewer...
- 2/10/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The Berlin Film Festival has revealed 12 titles from 16 countries that will compete in the festival’s Encounters strand, including Denis Côté’s “Social Hygiene” from Canada, Alice Diop’s “We” from France, and Fern Silva’s “Rock Bottom Riser” from the U.S.
The selections also take in “As I Want” (Egypt/France/Norway/Palestine) by Samaher Alqadi; “Azor” (Switzerland/France/Argentina) by Andreas Fontana; “The Beta Test” (U.S./U.K.) by Jim Cummings, Pj McCabe; and “Bloodsuckers (Germany) by Julian Radlmaier.
Also competing will be “The Girl and the Spider” (Switzerland) by Ramon Zürcher, Silvan Zürcher; “District Terminal” (Iran/Germany) by Bardia Yadegari, Ehsan Mirhosseini; “Moon, 66 Questions” (Greece/France) by Jacqueline Lentzou; “The Scary of Sixty-First” (U.S.) by Dasha Nekrasova; and “Taste” (Vietnam/Singapore/France/Thailand/Germany/Taiwan) by Lê Bảo.
The Encounters strand supports new or innovative voices in cinema. A jury will choose winners for best film,...
The selections also take in “As I Want” (Egypt/France/Norway/Palestine) by Samaher Alqadi; “Azor” (Switzerland/France/Argentina) by Andreas Fontana; “The Beta Test” (U.S./U.K.) by Jim Cummings, Pj McCabe; and “Bloodsuckers (Germany) by Julian Radlmaier.
Also competing will be “The Girl and the Spider” (Switzerland) by Ramon Zürcher, Silvan Zürcher; “District Terminal” (Iran/Germany) by Bardia Yadegari, Ehsan Mirhosseini; “Moon, 66 Questions” (Greece/France) by Jacqueline Lentzou; “The Scary of Sixty-First” (U.S.) by Dasha Nekrasova; and “Taste” (Vietnam/Singapore/France/Thailand/Germany/Taiwan) by Lê Bảo.
The Encounters strand supports new or innovative voices in cinema. A jury will choose winners for best film,...
- 2/10/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Haugesund’s New Nordic Films will run as a hybrid event Aug 18-21.
Isabella Eklof, the Danish director of Sundance 2018 selection Holiday and co-writer of Cannes 2018 award-winner Border, is presenting her new feature project Kalak as part of Haugesund’s New Nordic Films Co-Production Market (August 18-21).
This year’s hybrid event will see with some participants physically attend the event in Norway and others watching online films and presentations.
Scroll down for the full list
Kalak is Eklof’s second feature and is set in Greenland. It is about a man who tries to escape the demons of childhood...
Isabella Eklof, the Danish director of Sundance 2018 selection Holiday and co-writer of Cannes 2018 award-winner Border, is presenting her new feature project Kalak as part of Haugesund’s New Nordic Films Co-Production Market (August 18-21).
This year’s hybrid event will see with some participants physically attend the event in Norway and others watching online films and presentations.
Scroll down for the full list
Kalak is Eklof’s second feature and is set in Greenland. It is about a man who tries to escape the demons of childhood...
- 8/11/2020
- by 1100142¦Wendy Mitchell¦39¦
- ScreenDaily
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.