Umbra

Umbra: dark core of a sunspot, central shadow during a solar or lunar eclipse. ‘Umbra is dedicated to the ordinary and rare phenomena that occur in nature. These phenomena evoke familiar images such as shadows or reflections on the surface of water’, explain Florian Fischer and Johannes Krell. Formally and aesthetically complete, beautiful and consistent, Umbra has an irresistible arc of tension, a celebrated, not always definable and therefore all the more fascinating pull. The film can be read as an apocalyptic science fiction horror abstraction, as Kubrick Noir, so to speak. (Kubrick once mocked the fact that experimental film would never work on the big screen, and later shot the arguably most epic of all experimental films). Umbra can also be perceived as a meditation on space and its exploration. Or is it a fantasy about aliens travelling to our planet? The images we know of the moon’s surface are similarly abstract. To surrender oneself to Umbra and the emotions and associations it triggers means to begin a journey into space, and to grant space to the ephemeral.
by Florian Fischer, Johannes Krell Germany 2019 Without dialogue, English intertitles 20’ Colour World premiere

Crew

Written and Directed by Florian Fischer, Johannes Krell
Cinematography Florian Fischer, Johannes Krell
Montage Florian Fischer, Johannes Krell
Music Florian Marquardt, Alexander Schmidt
Sound Design Florian Marquardt, Johannes Krell
Gaffer Jonas Römmig
Visual Effects Sebastian Thewes
Producers Stephan Helmut Beier, Ray Peter Maletzki
Co-Production Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln (KHM) Köln
Artistic Adviser Matthias Müller KHM, Sophie Maintigneux KHM, Frank Döhmann KHM

Produced by

Florian Fischer

Born in Tübingen, Germany in 1981, he studied communication design at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam and then attended the Arno Fischer masterclass at the Ostkreuzschule for Photography in Berlin. Between 2011 and 2016 he was a member of the artistic staff at the Hochschule Harz. In 2017 he completed a masters in pictorial science at the Danube University Krems. He participated in Berlinale Talents in 2018.

Filmography (short films, co-director: Johannes Krell)

2014 Still Life 2016 Kaltes Tal 2019 Umbra

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019

Johannes Krell

Born in Halle (Saale) in the former GDR in 1982, he studied audiovisual media and camera at the Beuth University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. Since 2008, he has worked as a freelance cinematographer, editor and sound designer. In 2018, he completed his postgraduate studies in media arts at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne.

Filmography (short films, co-director: Florian Fischer)

2014 Still Life 2016 Kaltes Tal 2019 Umbra

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019