Film references for Lifelike
Det livagtige / Lifelike (working title)
Instr. Peter Hammer (work-in-progress)
A brief excerpt of my work-in-progress, shot during the removal of the glass of the dioramas at ZM by Frederik Wolff Teglhus and myself.
Archive of the Future
instr. Joerg Burger (2023)
An observational documentary feature in the vein of Frederick Wiseman a.o... From the producer’s own description:
With an appropriately curious attitude, Joerg Burger devotes great attention to this cumulative archive of pure research for its own sake, its exhibits and underlying craftwork, but first and foremost to the people who work there, some on a voluntary basis. In reflected views of the large showcases, his camera blurs visitors and exhibits, human and ape in particular. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, filigree (archival) meets obviously exhausting (technical) craftsmanship – for example, during the assembly of the first real dinosaur skeleton for exhibitions, or the restoration of an elephant bought in the 1970s on the sort of official “business trip” that is commonly known as big-game hunting. It is in these finely nuanced moments that Burger mixes honest efforts to increase knowledge with questions of provenance and ethics in institutional practice. In the meantime, restitution and the contextualization of movement across (colonial) borders constitute an indispensable part of the research process. Even if the exhibits in the Natural History Museum Vienna speak of a frozen, past time, at present there is much in motion in the field of knowledge production and preservation. Thus, while long-extinct animal species look down on us from the screen, the mountains of data and exhibits not only conceal the stories of past and extraterrestrial worlds of life, but also many answers to the crises of our time.
Available on-demand: https://paradox.dk/film/archive-of-the-future/
Un animal, des animaux / Animals and more animals
instr. Nicolas Philibert (1994)
Nicolas Philibert is a modern master of observational documentary cinema. In this film he portrays the many faces and bodies involved in the 1993 reopening of the Zoology Hall in Paris' Museum of Natural History. The main focus, however, is on the meticulous, and methodical, handling of the multifarious taxidermic and otherwise preserved creature population.
Available on Prime Video: https://www.primevideo.com/detail/Animals-and-More-Animals/0M629MOM4VZSO3CM7AFX85991T
Toute la memoire du monde / All the Memory in the World
instr. Alain Resnais (1956)
This is a classic! Alain Resnais directed this artistic ‘documentary’ short which through a series of beautifully choreographed sequences explores Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, its priceless treasures and how humanity remembers itself.
The whole film is available in this player or on youtube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRwZtIajGpE&ab_channel=GreatMovies
Also available on Vimeo on Demand: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/alltheworldsmemory
White Balls on Walls
instr. Sarah Vos (2022)
Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam has a collection that is almost exclusively by white men. It’s slogan was for years something along the lines of “Meet the modern masters” This film follows the process of turning around the museum. It’s centered on the discussions among staff and management about issues of gender equality, decolonisation, etc. It employs a high proportion of talking head interviews with employees and observers turning the film itself into discourse.
The New Rijksmuseum
instr. Oeke Hoogendijk (2014)
This film obsessively follows the decade-long process of rebuilding the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It’s centered on controversy about the construction plans which will terminate an underpass for bicyclists and pedestrians, and the conflict between the museum leadership and activists protesting the plans, and how the ensuing delays affect the museum staff, including its director who quits his position and moves to Vienna halfway through the process.
Vi flytter Munch
instr. Pål O. Nissen (2022)
Documentary feature based on the documentary mini series of the same title directed by Hilde Skofteland (NRK 2021-22) on the moving of the Edvard Munch museum in Oslo from a small space to its new building on the waterfront. A lot of the planning takes place in secrecy because of the priceless items in its 45.000 item collection that must be moved in its entirety, each item individually wrapped.
Available for streaming (with Danish subtitles) on DRTV: https://www.dr.dk/drtv/program/munchmuseet-flytter_320398
Museet
Instr. Nicole Horanyi, Cecile Debell (2023)
Shot at Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK), this series follows the life and work of a wide selection of museum employees struggling to gain visitors after the covid lockdowns. I find it visually ambitious but while it was criticized for its focus on curious characters and how it shines a not so flattering light on director Mikkel Bogh, I think the diagnosis should focus on the series’ seeming lack of interest in what the museum is interested in: its art, artworks, conservation of them, etc. It simply doesn’t offer its audience to see what its characters see which I find a critical omission.
Available for streaming (in Danish) on DRTV: https://www.dr.dk/drtv/serie/museet_337315
Revir—Søskende for Livet / Revir—Everything You Hold Dear
Instr. Peter Hammer (2023)
My own feature film from last year; Revir is not a museum film but rather a character study of siblings Susie and Sune who have recently given up their lives in the city to move in to a run-down farm house in the country—together! Susie dreams of running her own taxidermy business and Sune does what he can to support her but sometimes it’s like watching someone offering a shoulder to a black bear trying to climb a tree: it wants up, but it also wants to rip your face off.
Susie and Sune come from a rough upbringing—after their parents’ divorce their father’s parting words were: “Now all you have is each other”. He disappeared into a different family, their mother disappeared into pubs and bars for days on end. So Susie and Sune have always relied on each other. He’s estranged from their mother who intrudes on the delicate balance her two grown children are trying to maintain.
The film is available (in Danish) on DRTV: https://www.dr.dk/drtv/program/soeskende-for-livet_409932
… or I have a special link with English subtitles. Reach out!