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Bookbiographies

Synopsis: 

The book My way of knowledge – Expedition into the Abyss of alienation (Heiko Volkmer, published by Materialverlag) critically looks into questions and phenomenons that unfold when dealing with the meaning of work in our society. In doing so, three poles correspond with each other: the subjective thoughts of the author who questions his decision to study at an art school, the fictional biography of a bookbinder who finds himself back in professional orientation and various works of the humanities, such as by Karl Marx, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel or Siegfried Kracauer.

In the film Bookbiographies, the book´s content is viewed and examined using the example of the book industry. The film follows the biography of the book through the multifaceted stages of book production and thereby encounters various people who talk about their work, work attitude and life story. Those are for example the high-tech timber harvesting, the author in the half-light of his study, the independent publisher, the skilled bookseller in a call-center and a philosophy professor in his second-hand bookshop. In addition, the development of the book My path of knowledge is illustrated as a concrete example of book manufacturing.

The conclusions provided by the book are in a dialogue with the individual statements of the protagonists, while both often happen to be surprisingly contiguous to one another. It is shown to what extend it is possible to apply historical knowledge to current circumstances. The reality of each protagonist demonstrates what these circumstances can be, with work being the main focus ‒ as it is in most peoples daily life.

Runtime: 
01:06:06
Information for the Audience: 

Directors: Heiko Volkmer

Writers: Heiko Volkmer

Producers: Heiko Volkmer

 

Director: Heiko Volkmer

Heiko Volkmer was born in 1984 in Hamburg. His first film appeared in 2005 during the studies of the ethnic studies. He broke off these studies after 3 terms, to be able to switch to the HfbK Hamburg (Art school) in 2006. There he is studying visual communication with the main focus on Film. 
In his studies he developed a variety of short documentary- and experimental-films as an auteur. In 2009/2010 he spend two semesters studying at the art school (ENSBA) in Lyon/ France. 
Heiko Volkmer successfully passed his diploma in 2014 with the feature documentary “Bookbiographies” and the book “My way of knowledge – Expedition into the Abyss of alienation”. 
Amongst other things he worked at the NDR (public TV-station) in Hamburg. Until today Heiko Volkmer works at "El Rojito e.V.", an association in Hamburg for fair-trade-products from Latin America. Since finishing his studies he works as a freelance filmmaker (splitterfilm) and at the ARD (public TV-station) in Hamburg.

 

Categories:

Screenings / Awards: 
  • "Final Cut" Screening of the film-graduates of "Hochschule für bildende Künste" Art School

    Hamburg, Germany
    April 11, 2014
    (Bookbiographies wasnt all completed)
    Young Talent Film Award of Cultural Foundation "Hamburgische Kulturstiftung" Hamburg

  • 12th Dokumentary filmfestival Hamburg "Dokumentarfilmwoche Hamburg"

    Hamburg, Germany
    April 10, 2015
    German Premiere

  • Files & Attachments
Information for theatres: 

student project: Yes
completion date: 2015-04-09
shooting format: XDCAM HD
aspect ratio: 16:9
film color: Color
first-time filmmaker: No

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