Reality Must Be Addressed

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Reality Must Be Addressed

Reality Must Be Addressed
Johanna Seggelke
German Competition 2021
Documentary Film
Germany
2021
53 minutes
English,
German
Subtitles: 
English

“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” Even though Sky and Johanna definitely did not have this quote by Mark Twain in mind, it’s written in the stars of the two young women’s journey through South Africa. A chance acquaintance turns into a relationship that shimmers in all the colours of love. Between Marmite toasts, joints, selfies and music they explore each other inside out. But what happens when the journey ends?

In this deeply personal piece, filmmaker Johanna Seggelke chooses a very different approach to its predecessor, “Bibi Must Go” from 2020. She questions herself, her feelings and memories and almost casually unfolds an enchanting coming-of-age story about a love that emerges and fades in the seemingly endless summer. With a light hand, the film maintains the delicate balance between shimmering beauty and incidentality and manages to make the complicated dialectics of intimacy and strangeness palpable. The outstanding montage interweaves feathery holiday videos with an extraordinary score and the director’s sometimes wonderfully quirky, sometimes wise reflections. A delightfully direct film which preserves the rough edges of the moment and at the same time tries to outwit the undeceivability of one’s own emotions – at least for the time it takes to smoke a cigarette.
Luc-Carolin Ziemann

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Johanna Seggelke
Cinematographer
Vi R. Spengler, Johanna Seggelke
Editor
Marie Zrenner
Producer
Johanna Seggelke, Kerstin Zachau, University of Television and Film Munich (HFF)
Sound
Cornelia Böhm
Score
Silvius Sonvilla
Winner of: Young Eyes Film Award