go between films

WATERMARKS · 2013

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Documentary

Watermarks – Three Letters from China

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Luc Schaedler | go between films gmbh
CH 2013 | 80 | EN, DE, FR, Chin
→ Video On Demand

Based on three different places, «Watermarks» portrays the infractions to which people living in modern day China are subjected due to rapid developments.

We learn of the deceptively idyllic Jiuxiancun in the rainy south; of the apocalyptic coal mining site of Minqin and Wusutu in the parched north; and of Chongqing, the megacity on the Yangtze River.

The protagonists give their moving accounts of an unresolved past, an uncertain present and their tentative steps into the future. The film thus paints a complex image of the mental state of the people in this complicated country. “Watermarks” is a subjective snapshot in time that takes a poetic look at the changing everyday life in China.

«Since the crushing of the democracy movement in 1989, I have followed the upheaval in China with equal parts amazement and irritation: the country looks like a huge construction site and seems to be involved in a precipitous search for itself. In this unstable present the protagonists are taking tentative but courageous steps into the future.»
Luc Schaedler

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→ Statement director (wama)
→ Locations China (wama)
→ Downloads (wama) 
(photos & presskit)

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Video On Demand

Watermarks (2013)
en, de, fr

→ click here  

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→ FESTIVALS (selection):

– Locarno, Semaine de la critique (Competition)
– Warszawa, Planete + Doc (Competition)
– Istanbul, TRT Awards (Best Documentary)
– Dublin, Silk Road Film Festival (Best Documentary)
– München DOK.fest competition
– San Francisco, Golden Gate Awards
– Solothurner Filmtage official selection

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LINKS to «Watermarks»:

→ The Funeral (Video Clip)
→ Swiss Films 
→ IMDb.com
→ Facebook
→ Cinema of the World
→ The Movie Database

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PLAYLIST (10 Clips):

Unpublished scenes from Watermarks · 2013

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Luc Schaedler while shooting in Inner Mongolia, 2011

Feb 09, 2019 | films • | Comments Off on WATERMARKS · 2013

WATERMARKS – materials

Additional documents

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In the section «Watermarks – materials» you will find additional information about this documentary of Luc Schaedler (go between films).

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→ Rent/buy on Vimeo On Demand

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→ Statements Director

→ Shooting Locations

→ Downloads

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Based on three different places, «Watermarks» portrays the infractions to which people living in modern day China are subjected due to rapid developments.

We learn of the deceptively idyllic Jiuxiancun in the rainy south; of the apocalyptic coal mining site of Minqin and Wusutu in the parched north; and of Chongqing, the megacity on the Yangtze River.

The protagonists give their moving accounts of an unresolved past, an uncertain present and their tentative steps into the future. The film thus paints a complex image of the mental state of the people in this complicated country. “Watermarks” is a subjective snapshot in time that takes a poetic look at the changing everyday life in China.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

LINKS to «Watermarks»:

→ The Funeral (Video Clip)

→ Swiss Films 
→ IMDb.com
→ Facebook
→ Cinema of the World
→ The Movie Database

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

   —  

→ home
→ films
→ contact

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

→ Data Protection Statement

Jul 20, 2013 | materials • | Comments Off on WATERMARKS – materials

· Statement Director – wama

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Watermarks

Some thoughts

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«Since the crushing of the democracy movement in 1989, I have followed the upheaval in China with equal parts amazement and irritation: the country looks like a huge construction site and seems to be involved in a precipitous search for itself. In this unstable present the protagonists are taking tentative but courageous steps into the future.»
Luc Schaedler

Statement director

During the research for «Watermarks» and the subsequent filming in China I kept returning to a topic that had preoccupied me in my earlier films: namely, how people respond to external events, ruptures and life changes, and what this means to them in their daily lives. I took this question to heart in my new film and continued my search for answers. After Made in Hong Kong (1997) and Angry Monk (2005), the current film Watermarks · 2013 also marks the end of my Asian Trilogy.

My relationship to China

My relationship with China began over 20 years ago. Since the crushing of the democracy movement in 1989, I have travelled repeatedly through China. I have followed China’s economic development and the associated political and social upheavals with equal parts amazement and irritation.

The social changes triggered by fast-paced economic development unsettled the people. They registered the growing pollution of the environment and water with concern. Entire landscapes as well as a part of their own family history and the cultural history of China were punctiliously ‘flooded’ by progress. My love-hate relationship with China is reflected in the ambivalence of many Chinese, who are simultaneously proud of and disconcerted by developments in their country. These are the contradictory feelings that I have attempted to capture in my film.

The collaboration with Markus Schiesser

In the project Markus Schiesser was responsible for the interviews with the protagonists as well as sound. To complete the research (2009/2010) and filming (2011), we travelled together for months through China and shared in the everyday lives of the protagonists. Markus and I made a good team. His relationship to the people grew out of his quiet ease and the fact that he speaks fluent Chinese. This brought him a great deal of respect. He was simultaneously an insider and an outsider. I was the stranger, as well as being more extroverted and louder. I had to build my relationship with the people through non-verbal means, by gestures and looks.

In a cultural and political situation which treats the spoken word with caution and relegates most things to the deeper level of trust, we complemented each other ideally. Markus Schiesser studied Sinology and ethnology in Zurich and China. For over 12 years he has lived and worked in Beijing and Shanghai. He is married to a Chinese woman. We have been friends since the Zurich youth riots of the early 1980s.

Our working method

Water is the visually binding element in the film. Like a river, it flows through the individual scenes, stories and interviews. In China it makes sense to comport oneself like water. Wherever it flows, one lets it go, and wherever it is dammed, one gives way to it and finds another route. In this sense, time and patience are very important factors. What appears to be obvious whenever one works with people in a film turns out to be doubly important in China, for cultural and political reasons.

In China, if you want to get close to the people, you have to give yourself a lot of time. It is a complicated but not unpleasant ritual, during which you spend weeks building up trust, step by step: a first conversation, a second one, drinking tea, smoking, chatting, eating together, slowly getting to the point and always coming back to another toast. The first contact, and how you behave at that point, is crucial.

Statements director – Luc Schaedler

Markus Schiesser, Chongqing

Luc Schaedler, Wusutu

→ Facebook.com/watermarksthefilm

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Jul 20, 2013 | materials • | Comments Off on · Statement Director – wama

· Shooting Locations – wama

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Watermarks

Shooting Locations

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Minqin (Gansu Province)
Wusutu (Inner Mongolia)

Both cities feature in Watermarks. They lie in the gigantic coal and industry belt that stretches for over 1000 kilometres west to east across northern China. In addition to the destructive exploitation of the landscape this region suffers from severe pollution and water scarcity. Despite all that – or because of it – both places were one of the most fascinating shooting locations I have ever worked at.

Jiuxiancun (Guangxi Province)

A small rice-growing village that dates back to the time of the Qing Dynasty (1616-1912). It is situated in the south of China, not far from the tourist-centre of Yangshuo, where rain is plentiful. The region is known for its iconographic landscape, consisting of innumerable karst hills rising above the rice fields. In no other province did the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) rage with such devastating force as in Guangxi.

Chongqing (independent administrative unit)

A booming mega-city on the Yangtze, the largest river in China. With over 30 million inhabitants, it is currently one of the most populous cities in the world. In recent years, it has grown with greater intensity and the city is in a constant state of upheaval.

→ Watermarks · 2013

→ Facebook.com/watermarksthefilm

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Jul 20, 2013 | materials • | Comments Off on · Shooting Locations – wama

· Downloads – wama

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Watermarks

Downloads – Promotion

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The press kit in three languages (de, en, fr) and the film stills from «Watermarks» can be downloaded here.

↓ Presskit (english)
↓ Dossier de Presse (français)
↓ Presseheft (deutsch)

↓ Filmstills

→ Click on image
→ Image opens in browser
→ Choose «Save as»
→ Select downloads location
→ Save

→ Watermarks · 2013

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Jul 20, 2013 | materials • | Comments Off on · Downloads – wama

· Teaching Materials – wama

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Watermarks

Teaching materials

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only available in German!

→ Click «Deutsch»
above to your right ↑

→ auf «Deutsch» klicken
oben rechts ↑

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Teaching materials for «Watermarks»

Here you will find the materials for school lessons in thematic order for download (German only)

The organization ACHAOS (Kinokultur in der Schule) has compiled a pedagogically valuable dossier for interested teachers with questions, suggestions for discussion and information material for school lessons.

↓ Dossier to WATERMARKS for school lessons (© ACHAOS)

Additional materials to download ↓
in German only!

↓ Dossier of Film (.pdf )
Synopsis, statement of the director, information about the film locations and persons, as well as a list of the topics addressed in the film

↓ Geschichte Chinas (.zip)
↓ Karten & Texte zur Geographie (.zip)
↓ Wirtschaft & Entwicklung (.zip)
↓ Umwelt & Ökologie (.zip)
↓ Menschenrechte & Rebellion (.zip)
↓ PHOTOS der Protagonisten (.zip)
↓ PHOTOS vom Film (.zip)
↓ PHOTOS der Dreharbeiten (.zip)
↓ PHOTOS zur Umweltproblematik (.zip)
Download the .zip files. Open with double click. In the respective folder you will find the .pdf documents of the texts and maps, as well as the photos as .jpg)

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Jul 15, 2001 | materials • | Comments Off on · Teaching Materials – wama