2+2=22 [The Alphabet]

Streetscapes - Chapter I / Photography and beyond - Part 24: Well-worn roadsides, broken pavement slabs. Trees protrude from the cement and cast drop shadows on crumbling façades. The city centre of Tbilisi in summer 2013. Views down side and main streets, over railings and under balconies, at an architectural cacophony. The commentary spoken by Natja Brunckhorst reflects on the nature of street and public space. In an oak-clad recording studio, the Düsseldorf band Kreidler record their album "ABC". The drummer wears headphones, his set is on a carpet colour-coordinated with the mosaic floor. Only the complex geometry of the sound-insulating ceiling is white. The floor is covered with tangled cables and electronics. The atmosphere is concentrated, the communication between the musicians often wordless. The third element of the parallel montage are the director's familiar notebooks, closely written and pasted with prospectus torn-outs or cinema maps, as always quickly leafed through. They follow the alphabet. With this first part of "Streetscapes", Heinz Emigholz reboots his series "Photography and beyond" and initiates a fascinating new section. (Source: 67th Berlin International Film Festival, catalogue)