OACF at the Lifescapes Film Festival: In the Middle of the Bridge

Since the Open Air Cinema Foundation has its beginnings in the town of Mae Sot on the Thai-Burma border, this film was particularly interesting to us. Shortly after the defeat of the September Revolution in 2007, hundreds of monks tried to flee to foreign countries. Some of the leaders landed in Mae Sot, where they remained hidden underground. The starting point for the film is based on the consequences of the Saffron Revolution that each of the protagonists has experienced in a different way. The film focuses on the one hand on the personalities and motivation of these men, who take responsibility for one of the biggest democratic movements of our times. On the other hand the film tries to find out more about the situation and life in Burma, a country that because of its closed border policy does not allow any access to show the reality. One year later: We meet the monks at JFK airport in New York. A further getaway into a world that couldn't be stranger, torn out of context.

About the Directors

Karin DГјrr and Carolin Röckelein work in the fields of documentary film and video artworks including room installations, stage design, video and sound compositions. The Gipfelfilm network, founded in 2003, is a collaboration between these two artists. They have been working together with different film production houses and various artists, musicians, dancers, composers and writers. Their working process includes: concept and script, cinematography (HDV), directing and editing (Final Cut Pro). Both studied communication-design (Diploma) and Visual and Media Anthropology (MA) and have been working in Berlin since 2007. In 2004 they co-founded Aug.eNwald e.V. (non-profit association) and the artist and design group PopUpShop. They recently have been working closely together with Ensemble fГјr StГ¤dtebewohner (Vienna/ Berlin), and on their own documentary and scientific projects dealing with different cultures and social grievances in a political and personal context. Their films were shown on Arte TV (Germany and France), in different independent German cinemas (i.e. in Bamberg, Berlin and Trier) and on Film festivals in Germany, Japan and India (CinГ©fleuve SaarbrГјcken, DOK Leipzig, GIEFF Göttingen, Kyoto shortfilm festival). Their Video-artworks and installations were shown in various galeries and festivals, i.e. in Mannheim (‚Wunder der PrГ¤rie‘ international festival for theater, performance, dance and arts), Frankfurt a.M. (Frankfurter Modemesse), Luxembourg (Lx5), ZГјrich (gallery MГњ), Trier (CybergГ¤rten und wirkliches GrГјn, Kunstakademie), Berlin (English Theatre), Traunstein (Kunstraum Klosterkirche ) and Vienna (Radowanhalle, Hotel FГјrstenhof).