Wendy Oberlander, Still (Stille)

Black and White Film, 25 minutes. Hahn & Daughters Productions © 2001.

A story layered with memory, of place, and of recalibration, Still (Stille) reveals the early childhood of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander and a world of assimilated European Jews during the 1930s. Interdisciplinary artist Wendy Oberlander had returned with her mother to Berlin sixty years after the exile. Composed of archival footage and a poetic narration by daughter and mother, the film offers hints of a personal connection to place, woven together with the act of forgetting. The dimension of time unflattens the notion of landscape as simply a piece of ground.

Original score and bass clarinet by Lori Freedman, infused with cello by Peggy Lee. Edited by Jennifer Abbott.

Still (Stille)

Chapter one
wasser • schuh/water • shoe
Grainy black and white film images of a family in a garden, amusement park rides and a sandy beach scene with children.

Chapter two
kuche • uhr/kitchen • clock
Grainy black and white film images of skiing, Berlin street scenes, school children and a train station.

Chapter three
garten • schlüssel/garden • key
Grainy black and white film images of urban trains, children in a park, amusement park rides, Berlin street scenes and boats on a lake.

Chapter four
schrank • brief/cupboard • letter
Grainy black and white film images of garden, flowers, beach with waves, outdoor ice skating and swimming. 

Chapter five
zucker • spiegel/sugar • mirror
Grainy black and white film images of family playing at the beach, carousel ride, adult diving into pool and children playing in a garden.