Gli appunti di Anna Azzori / Uno specchio che viaggia nel tempo

The Notes of Anna Azzori / A Mirror that Travels through Time
Constanze Ruhm’s essay film revolves around another film: Anna by Alberto Grifi and Massimo Sarchielli (Berlinale Forum 1975). In the early 1970s, the two Italian directors found Anna Azzori, a drifter who needed money and help, on the Piazza Navona in Rome. As they documented her unravelling life, control over the process remained firmly in their hands. Starting with this material, Gli appunti di Anna Azzori constructs several clusters of ideas that are sometimes more, and sometimes less related to one another: “Everything is at once far away and very close,” we hear at one point. The leitmotif raises the question of the place of women and their struggles in a world that was full of discrimination at the time – and which still is today. The film uses interference noise, elaborate voiceovers, snowy images, characters who turn into trees, rocks or stars (and back again), river nymphs and young women at a casting call. It also features lots of archival material, including images from feminist demonstrations in Italy: “We are not afraid,” the demonstrators chanted at the time.
by Constanze Ruhm
with Gemma Vannuzzi, Mona Abdel Baky, Kheda Durtaeva, Ljubica Jaksic, Hannah Morscher, Cordula Rieger, Sidi Robol, Kadisa Seitinger, Alex Smith, Alisha Svestka, Livia Szankowsky, Law Wallner, Lia Wilfing
Austria / Germany / France 2020 German, Italian 72’ Colour & Black/White

With

  • Gemma Vannuzzi (Anna/Daphne)
  • Mona Abdel Baky (River Nymph)
  • Kheda Durtaeva (River Nymph)
  • Ljubica Jaksic (River Nymph)
  • Hannah Morscher (River Nymph)
  • Cordula Rieger (River Nymph)
  • Sidi Robol (River Nymph)
  • Kadisa Seitinger (River Nymph)
  • Alex Smith (River Nymph)
  • Alisha Svestka (River Nymph)
  • Livia Szankowsky (River Nymph)
  • Law Wallner (River Nymph)
  • Lia Wilfing (River Nymph)

Crew

Written and Directed by Constanze Ruhm
Cinematography Hannes Böck
Editing Hannes Böck, Constanze Ruhm
Music Gaël Segalen
Sound Design Sebastian Meyer
Sound Sebastian Meyer, Theda Schifferdecker
Costumes Michaela Landrichter
Make-Up Jenny Bladek
Casting Jessyca R. Hauser, Michaela Landrichter
Assistant Director Jessyca R. Hauser
Production Manager Juliane Beer
Producer Constanze Ruhm

Constanze Ruhm

Born in Vienna in 1965. She works as an artist, author and curator in the fields of film, video and installation. Since 1996, she teaches film and digital media at international universities, including the Art Institute of Boston/Lesley University, as well as the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna since 2006.

Filmography

1999 Apartment; 18 min. · Evidence; 5 min. 2001 A Memory of the Players in a Mirror at Midnight; 26 min. 2004 X Characters / RE(hers)AL 2003–2004; 62 min. · X NaNa / Subroutine; 30 min. 2005 Travelling / Plan 234 / Extérieur Nuit 1999-2005; 3 min. 2007 X Love Scenes / Pearls without a String; 58 min., Forum Expanded 2007 2010 Crash Site / My_Never_Ending_Burial_Plot; 69 min., Forum Expanded 2010 2012 Kalte Probe (Cold Rehearsal); with Christine Lang, 90 min., Forum Expanded 2013 2015 Invisible Producers. Kapitel 1: Panoramis / Paramount / Paranormal; with Emilien Awada, 59 min., Forum Expanded 2015 · Comparing Local Spectres; 18 min. 2019 Gli appunti di Anna Azzori / Uno specchio che viaggia nel tempo (The Notes of Anna Azzori / A Mirror That Travels through Time)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020