The Second Journey (To Uluru)

Forum 2019

As the camera moves gently from afar into the very heart of the monolith, the magic of the holiest site of the Aborigines unfolds in shimmering nuances of light.
Shot at different times of day, the close-up and panorama shots of this more than 500-million-year-old stone formation combine silence and acoustically altered birdsong to convey a feeling of timelessness into which a sense of loss is also inscribed. The somnambulistic moonrise in the great sky seems almost like an abstract painting and yet it is real. The areas of discolouration in the film material caused by problems in the developing process were deliberately left in the film as a metaphor for the looming threat to this natural environment through bushfires and tourism.
The Second Journey (To Uluru) is a continuation of the Touching the Earth films, in which Arthur and Corinne Cantrill turned their full attention to the Australian landscape. The films found little resonance at the time they were made, with this tribute to the outback coming across as too disconcerting and unsettling, both formally and thematically: an indication of the political dimension of the film.

by Arthur Cantrill, Corinne Cantrill Australia 1981 English 74’ Colour Documentary form

Crew

Director	Arthur Cantrill, Corinne Cantrill
Screenplay	Corinne Cantrill
Cinematography	Arthur Cantrill, Corinne Cantrill
Editing	Arthur Cantrill, Corinne Cantrill
Sound Design	Arthur Cantrill
Sound	Arthur Cantrill
Producer	Corinne Cantrill
Digital Restoration	Arsenal – Institut für Film und Videokunst

Produced by

Arthur & Corinne Cantrill

Arthur Cantrill

Born in Sydney, Australia in 1938 and studied Electrical Engineering. Since 1960, he and his wife Corinne Cantrill have been making 8mm and 16mm films together. They started out with films for children and art documentaries, and soon began making experimental films as well. The focus of their work is a filmic engagement with themes such as landscape, colour, light, film history and film technology.

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019

Corinne Cantrill

Born in Sydney, Australia in 1928 and studied Botany. Since 1960, she and her husband Arthur Cantrill have been making 8mm and 16mm films together. They started out with films for children and art documentaries, and soon began making experimental films as well. The Cantrills’ joint filmography comprises more than 150 titles, including multi-screen installations and performances. From 1971 until 2000, they published the magazine Cantrills Filmnotes, an international journal dedicated to experimental film, video and related arts.

Filmography (selection - Arthur and Corinne Cantrill)

1964 Dream; 4 min. 1965 Robert Klippel Sculpture Studies; 5 films, 5 min. each 1969 Moving Statics; 28 min. · Home Movie – A Day in the Bush; 4 min. · Eikon; 4 min. · White-Orange-Green; 4 min., Forum 1984 1970 Bouddi; 8 min. · 4000 Frames, An Eye-Opener Film; 3 min. · Earth Message; 23 min., Forum 1984 · Harry Hooton; 83 min. 1971 Video Self-Portrait; 6 min. 1973 Skin of Your Eye; 117 min. 1974 At Eltham; 24 min. 1977 Ocean at Point Lookout; 46 min., part of the series "Touching the Earth" · Near Coober Pedy; 15 min., part of the series "Touching the Earth" · At Uluru; 80 min., part of the series "Touching the Earth" · Katatjuta; 24 min., part of the series "Touching the Earth" 1978 Heat Shimmer; 13 min., Forum 1984 · Printer Light Play; 6 min., Forum 1984 1979 Notes on the Passage of Time; 14 min., Forum 1984 1980 Rock Wallaby and Blackbird; 66 min., part of the series "Grain of the Voice" · Two Women; 32 min., part of the series "Grain of the Voice" · Seven Sisters; 19 min., part of the series "Grain of the Voice" · Warrah; 15 min., Forum 1984 · Experiments in Three-Colour Separation; 21 min. 1982 The Second Journey (To Uluru); 74 min., Forum 1982 1983 Passage; 65 min. 1984 Waterfall; 18 min. · In This Life's Body; 147 min., Forum 1985 · Rainbow Diary; 17 min., with Ivor Cantrill 1986 Notes on Berlin, the Divided City; 30 min. 1989 Myself When Fourteen; 19 min., with Ivor Cantrill 1995 Ivor Paints; 78 min. 1997 Airey's Inlet; 6 min. 1998 Garden of Chromatic Disturbance; 13 min. 1999 The City of Chromatic Dissolution; 22 min. · The City of Chromatic Intensity; 5 min. 2000 The Land is Not Empty; 26 min. 2006 The Room of Chromatic Mystery; 7 min.

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019