Media Magica I – Film Before Film
Media Magica is a series of short films, produced between 1985 and 1995, based largely on director Werner Nekes’ private collection of historical artefacts of visual media. Film Before Film (1986) opened a new chapter in Werner Nekes’ cinematography. Exploring the prehistory of cinema, the groundbreaking documentary is intimately connected with the director’s fascination with motion pictures and avant-garde innovations in visual media. Since the 1970s, the Nekes has been a passionate collector of optical illusion artefacts and other traces of pre-cinematographic visual media, such as machines, optical toys, literature and various curiosities. Before the Lumière brothers’ invention gave the world the magic of the cinema, people had attempted to capture movement for centuries. Various early optical illusion devices were a source of inspiration for inventors and entertainment for others. Based on his own research and collecting, Werner Nekes’ film takes viewers on a fascinating journey through time. From camera obscura to cinematography, from optical tricks in paintings to illusions playing on the physical imperfections of the human eye, Film Before Film is both an eye-opening history lesson and great entertainment. By sharing his collection and showing how the various objects work, the director elicits curiosity and emotional reaction – as all good illusions have always done.
awards
Figueira da Foz IFF 1986 – Special Award of the International Jury; Chicago IFF 1986 – Gold Plaque for the Best Documentary; Bilbao IFF 1986 – Special Mention
Werner Nekes
German avant-garde film producer and collector. Werner Nekes was born in 1944 in Erfurt and studied linguistics and psychology in Freiburg. He then went to Bonn in 1964 where he was a head of the University Film Club and later chairman of the FIAG. He developed friendships with film directors, sculptors and painters. These included Dore 0., his companion and collaborator since 1967. He began painting in 1965 with diverse materials and objects. He started his practice of film with 8mm and went on with 16mm. He decided to free the film from narration and psychology and organized his films according to temporal units and structural systems.
Filmography
1965 Tom Doyle i Eva Hesse / Tom Doyle und Eva Hesse / Tom Doyle and Eva Hesse (short)
1966 Falstart / Fehlstart / The False Start (short)
1966 Start / The Start (short)
1966 Przedmiot / Artikel / The Item (short)
1967 Łuk / Bogen / The Bow (short)
1967 Cięcia dla ABABA / Schnitte für ABABA / Cuts for ABABA (short)
1967 cip cip cip / put-putt / chick, chick, chick (short)
1967 jüm-jüm (short, co-dir.)
1967 Seminarium / Das Seminar / The Seminar (doc., co-dir.)
1967 gurtrug nr 1 / gurtrug Nr. 1 / gurtrug no. 1 (short)
1967 gurtrug nr 2 / gurtrug Nr. 2 / gurtrug no. 2 (short)
1967 Bo nikt nie wie o tym / Ach wie gut, daß niemand weiß / Oh, I Am Glad That Nobody Knew (short)
1967 C/iało / K/örper / B/ody (short)
1967 Filmy drapane, kąsane, naświetlane, dziurawione i łatane / Kratz-, Beiß-, Licht-, Loch- und Flickerfilme / Scratch, Bite, Light, Hole and Patch Movies
1967 Operacja / Operation / The Operation (short)
1968 vis-à-vis (short)
1968 Film grupowy / Gruppenfilm / The Group Movie (short)
1968 Zipzibbelip (short)
1968 Mamo, tam stoi mężczyzna / Mama, da steht ein Mann / Mama, There’s a Man Standing There (short)
1968 Walka Tarzana z gorylem / Tarzan’s Kampf mit dem Gorilla / Tarzan’s Fight with the Gorilla (short)
1968 Mucząca krowa / Muhkuh / The Moo-Cow (short)
1968 Kelek
1965–1969 Palimpsest
1969 Mgławica / Nebula
1970 Abbandono (short)
1971 Spacecut
1972 T-WO-MEN
1972 Z Altony / Aus Altona / From Altona (short)
1973 Arbatax (short)
1973 Otomana / Diwan / The Divan
1974 Makimono (short)
1975 Photophthalmia (short)
1976 Amalgamat / Amalgam
1976 Falun (short)
1977 Lagado
1978 Mirador
1978 Bei der Lichtbildnerin (short)
1979 Horly (short)
1979 Hurrycan
1979 Mała noc / Little Night (short)
1980 Peggy i inni lub gdzie są awangardowcy? / Peggy und die anderen oder Wer trägt die Avantgarde? / Peggy and the Others or Who Carries the Avant-Garde? (co-dir.)
1981 Beuys (short, co-dir.)
1980 Uliisses
1982 Nekes (doc., co-dir., short)
1982 Spojrzenie ze zgodnego więzienia / Blick aus dem harmonischen Gefängnis / A Look from the Harmonious Prison (short)
1983–1985 Optyczne abecadło / Optisches ABC / Optical ABC
1985 Johnny Flash
1986 Media Magica I – Film przed filmem / Media Magica I – Was geschah wirklich zwischen den Bildern? / Media Magica I – Film Before Film (doc.)
1988 Archeologia filmu / Vorgeschichte des Films / The Archeology of Film
1992 Mitchell Feigenbaum (short, co-dir.)
1993–1996 Światowy teatr cieni, I–IX / Schattentheater der Welt, I–IX / The Shadow Theatre of the World, I–IX (video, doc.)
1995 Anthony Moore – muzyk / Anthony Moore – Musician (video)
1995 Aus der Meistergilde der Schüttelreimer (video)
1996 Media Magica II – Co się kryje za obrazem / Media Magica II – Durchsehekunst / Media Magica II – Beyond the Image (doc.)
1996 Media Magica III – Ożywione obrazy / Media Magica III – Belebte Bilder / Media Magica III – Pictures Come to Life (doc.)
1996 Media Magica IV – Wielotysięczny seans filmowy / Media Magica IV – Vieltausendschau / Media Magica IV – Multi-Thousand Picture Show (doc.)
1996 Media Magica V – Obraz i przestrzeń / Media Magica V – Bild-Raum / Media Magica V – The Ambiguous Image and Space (doc.)
1996 Media Magica VI – Cudowny bębenek / Media Magica VI – Wundertrommel / Media Magica VI – The Magic Drum (doc.)
1997 Dzień malarza / Der Tag des Malers / The Day of the Painter
2004 Teatr cieni Richarda Bradshawa / Richard Bradshaw’s Shadowtheater / Richard Bradshaw’s Shadow Theatre
2008 Loplop (short)