Werner Penzel

Lucie et Maintenant

In May of 1982 Julio Cortázar, the Argentinean writer and his companion in life, Carol Dunlop set out in their VW bus on a journey along the highway from Paris to Marseille that, for each of them, was to be their final one. Twenty-five years later, Océane Madelaine and Jocelyn Bonnerave set out to undertake the journey again.

Lax Readings

The space of a voice gives what is said its real meaning. In it you can feel what is actually behind the words. A voice can be like a landscape. Nobody we met on our cinematic paths made this more noticeable than Robert Lax. His incomparable serenity hovers over every thought. You can enter this space by listening to him read his poetry, a quarter hour of which is gathered in LAX READINGS.

Brother Yusef

The path to Yusef Lateef was a journey into the unknown. We were aware that he is one of the great maestros of jazz and one of the last of his generation still alive. In an era of black culture that probably found its strongest form of expression in music, he was a contemporary and companion of those musicians who helped to shape and renew jazz: John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Cannonball Adderley. Now, at the age of 84, Yusef Lateef lives withdrawn in his house in the woods somewhere in New England – in a room full of musical instruments. He still plays his saxophone today, as he has done for most of his life. (Humbert & Penzel)

My Eye Your Eye

Filmed in Patmos in May 1999, this is Robert Lax’s last year in Greece, roughly his last year of life. For 21 minutes you see only Lax’s head and his right hand, which holds a wooden staff of sorts (a walking stick or ... a broomstick?!). He wears a navy blue knit hat. The only movement is in his eyes, and ever so slight movements of his head. Lax does not look at the camera, his eyes are mostly downcast, but he is awake and aware, watching and waiting, and you are drawn into his profound stillness. All of those who were able to meet Lax during his lifetime consider it a particular stroke of fortune. They say that from that point on he became part of their bodies and souls, as though they had met a true saint. My Eye Your Eye is like being in the presence of holiness. For 20 minutes. Watching and waiting. I've always wanted to know better what Bob Lax was like - how he was. This film does it.

Null Sonne No Point

The musicians of the ‚Art Ensemble of Chicago’ have been performing their portrayal of jazz from past and present since 1967, not unlike a journey backwards in time aroused by an ancestral call to the myths of Africa. But what happens before their concerts? NULL SONNE NO POINT is the magnificent chronicle of the preparation for a concert and invites us into the very heart of the music, following the musicians backstage, at their rehearsals and moments of privacy and concentration, seeking the fluctuating emotions before the music begins.

Step Across the Border

An avant-garde documentary film on English guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith.

Why Should I Buy A Bed When All That I Want Is Sleep?

Robert Lax (1915-2000) was a poet with a singular vision and style whose quest to live an authentic life as both an artist and a spiritual seeker inspired Thomas Merton, Jack Kerouac, William Maxwell and countless others. Known in the U.S. primarily as Merton’s best friend and in Europe as a daringly original avant-garde poet, Lax lived a life of simplicity, humility and grace that continues to encourage and motivate readers and followers. This film is a portrait of Robert Lax as he was to those who were fortunate to visit him during his thirty years of living on the Greek island of Patmos.

Augenblick

In 1996, cinematographer Helge Weindler died in Almeria, Spain, while shooting his wife Doris Dörrie's new film. A year later, she set out to retrace her grief and pain in a very private film.