Tradition is the Handing on of Fire, not the Worship of Ashes

Some found footage - made of cellulose nitrate - the material Fire - a threat to nitrate film - its theme A quote - from Gustav Mahler - its message The soundtrack - by Christian Fennesz - as the bridge. (Gustav Deutsch) The images burn. A house is on fire, for the space of exactly one minute. Cinema under attack: An anonymous fragment from the early days of film is reworked by Austrian collector of images Gustav Deutsch. The result is a reflection on reproduction and reality, on destruction which takes place on two levels. (Stefan Grissemann) Gustav Deutsch´s trailer for the Austrian Film Archive is 56 seconds long and shows images of burning houses derived from the dawn of cinema. These images themselves are in a disintegrated state and look “burned”, although their deterioration stems from water damage. The musical accompaniment by Viennese electronic star composer Christian Fennesz renders cinema and fire palpable, while simultaneously offering a new approach to museum artifacts. (Alexander Horwath)

Orig. Title
Tradition ist die Weitergabe des Feuers und nicht die Anbetung der Asche
Year
1999
Country
Austria
Duration
1 min
Director
Gustav Deutsch
Category
Avantgarde/Arts
Orig. Language
No Dialogue
Credits
Director
Gustav Deutsch
Sound
Christian Fennesz
Available Formats
35 mm (Distribution Copy)
Aspect Ratio
1:1,37
Frame Rate
24 fps
Betacam SP (Distribution Copy)
Sound Format
stereo
Festivals (Selection)
1999
Wien - Viennale - Int. Filmfestwochen
2000
Zürich - VIDEOEXperimental; Video & Film Festival
Madrid - ARCO - Semana de Cine Experimental
Cork - Int. Film Festival
Braunschweig - Filmfest
Osnabrück - EMAF - European Media Art Festival
Rotterdam - Int. Filmfestival
Windsor - Media City
Melbourne - Int. Film Festival
Luzern - VIPER - Int. Film und Video Festival
Montréal - Festival International du Nouveau Film et de la Video
Utrecht - Impakt Festival
Sao Paulo - Short Film Festival
Regensburg - Kurzfilmwoche
Graz - Diagonale, Festival des österreichischen Films
2001
Stuttgart - Filmwinter, Expanded Media Festival
Istanbul - Int. Short Film Festival
Palermo - l'immagine leggera. Int. Videoart, Film & Media Festival
London - PANDAEMONIUM - Festival of Moving Image
Helsinki - Avanto Media Art Festival
2002
Zürich - VIDEOEXperimental; Video & Film Festival
Cork - Int. Film Festival