– Synopsis –
Summer in Munich. 65 years after “Chronicle of a Summer” by Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin, we start a remake of the legendary movie. Like the ethnologist and the sociologist, we ask people in the streets about happiness and life. We portray others at work, and sense the general political mood in the city. In red wine-fueled table conversations, we reflect on our cinematic approach in the cinéma vérité style. Does the presence of a camera and a microphone change the answers? Will the truth of this summer be revealed in the images? Meanwhile, we are waiting for a reply from Edgar Morin, whom we hope to meet in Paris.
– Director’s statement –
What would be CHRONICLE OF A SUMMER by Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin if we transported it to our times? We took the famous cinematic monument from 1960 as a starting point for our filmic experiment. Filming in summer 2025 in Munich, we wanted to get a sense of the mood on the streets by asking people the famous questions once phrased by Edgar Morin: “Are you happy?” and “How do you live?”
To portray different kinds of work, we intruded on the workspaces of various professions, including a seamstress, an artist, a gardener, a cinema collective, a student, and a tennis player.
Can truth arise from our pictures, while meeting these people and capturing their work and daily lives? What is the political mood like in a time again marked by crises and worldwide war?
In cinéma vérité style, we introduced a self-reflective framing into our project. Inviting students, collaborators, and protagonists to share their ideas about how they reflect on the filmic truth in general, we asked ourselves whether, in the era of new media, we can still capture the authentic.
The historic handheld camera is replaced by a lightweight DV cam and our smartphones to transport the 16mm material of film heritage into digital aesthetics without achieving too high a resolution, though that is intended.
films pour demain 