N i n a . M ü h l e n k a m p

»Music means everything: This simple sentence reflects the life story of the conductor Christoph Eschenbach.

Eschenbach’s first memory of life is death. The mother died at his birth, the father died in a prison battalion of the Wehrmacht. The five-year-old stranded with his grandmother in a refugee camp, where he was the only one surviving a typhoid epidemic. Eschenbach’s future adoptive mother brought him out of the camp.

For months, the traumatized boy could no longer speak. Music saved him. His savior Wallydore Eschenbach was a pianist and singer. He found his way back to life and language through her music.

For the film Christoph Eschenbach returned to his birthplace Wroclaw and to the places of his childhood and youth in Schleswig-Holstein. And he explains why Paris became his second home. Insights into his private archive make it clear what has shaped him and why it is so important for him to pass it on to the next generation.«

1:51 of 52:20 [excerpt]

»Piotr Anderszewski is a perfectionist. He is ready to turn every single tone of a work upside down and balance it out – his audience appreciates it. It is not without reason that Anderszewski is considered one of the best pianists of our time. In this film, Anderszewski gives an intimate insight into the everyday life of a pianist, talks about problems with instruments and concert halls, and visits the production facility of Steinway & Sons. The viewer gets a lasting impression of the sometimes complicated relationship of an artist with his instrument, which can go along with years of frustration.«

2:42 of 42:36 [excerpt]

»Anna Prohaska certainly is the most exciting young singer of our time: she makes the music she sings sound like music that has just been written and is not hundreds of years old. She turns the stage characters she embodies into characters of our time, people you could meet on the street every day. At the same time, however, Anna Prohaska loves mythical worlds: sometimes she transforms into fairies and nymphs, into evil and good sorceresses. She moves in the world of fantasy as well as in fancy worlds …

The film „The Fable Worlds of Anna Prohaska“ shows a modern woman who lends immediacy and liveliness to a Baroque repertoire: no matter if it is a jealousy aria at the Berlin Alexanderplatz station (Vivaldi’s „Alma Opressa“), a modern love fairy tale (Handel’s „Tornami“), or a heartbreaking Lamento (Monteverdi) in a nightmarish hospital.«

5:02 of 43:08 [excerpt]

»A uniformly seeming mass with eccentric movements, constantly halfway point dancing to hard techno beats: this only describes the high-performance dance of „Soul Chain“ to some extend. It’s a piece that the renowned choreographer Sharon Eyal created especially for the dance ensemble „tanzmainz“ of the Staatstheater Mainz. „Soul Chain“ displays the contrast between the individual and the group. Breathless, the Soul Chain lies around the dancers and their movements. The documentary approaches the piece, as well as the dancers of the ensemble and the internationally successful choreographer Sharon Eyal from Tel Aviv.«

2:07 of 42:36 [Prologue]
Next broadcast date: Sat., 23rd of Febr. 2019, 7.20 pm, 3sat [short version]

»It smelled sweet, one woman remembered, like ripe guavas. Others remember it hanging in the air like a thick fog. Some say when aircrafts sprayed, it looked like stripes of powder decorating the sky.

Vietnam war, 1950 – 1975. US president John F. Kennedy personally ordered the use of us-researched herbicides. It was meant to defoliate trees under which Vietnamese soldiers took cover. Between 1961 and 1971, the U.S. Air Force sprayed more than 80 million liters of dioxin-based herbicides, including Agent Orange, Agent Blue and Agent Purple, over Vietnamese forests, jungles and agricultural fields. These dioxin-based defoliants altered the soldiers’ DNA, leading to cancer, neurological disorders, skin diseases, organ and limb damage, and/or total loss of voice, hearing and sight. This cellular breakdown and the resulting maladies were genetically passed on to their offspring.

In Lighter Than Orange North Vietnamese veterans tell about their memories of the war and Agent Orange as well as the struggles they have faced as a consequence of both.«

3:42 of 72:03 [Trailer]