A selection of our portfolio:
Island Time - a Jewish family stranded in the South Seas (in production)
This is the story of the only three Jewish women living on the far away Cook Islands – and about their family’s journey of migration from 1930s Europe to South America - and ultimately to Oceania. Maya (8) is the youngest member of the family: Being the first Polynesian girl of Jewish decent, this film tells the incredible story of what had to happen to make her life in the South Seas possible.
Filming on Rarotonga completed, in production.
Undercurrents of a Changing Climate (2017)
A film about environmental change and the 12th Festival of Pacific Arts: voices from Guam, Tokelau and Kiribati.
Every four years, participants from 27 island nations gather to celebrate their culture and to perform their identity at the Festival of Pacific Arts. In 2016, FestPAC took place in Guam, the largest of the Mariana Islands, and as many say one of the USA's last colonies.
One of the festivals core themes in 2016 was: 'Our resources from land and sea that have sustained Pacific islanders for thousands of years'. We meet festival delegates from three island nations (Tokelau, Guam and Kiribati) to discuss how they perceive today's environmental challenges: We are looking for the undercurrents of a changing climate.
How does climate change discourse affect performances of traditional and contemporary dance and other art forms?
Our interview partners are: Asi Fangalua Halaleva-Pasilio (one of the leading figures of the delegation from Nukunonu, Tokelau), Kaure Babo (a newly elected member of parliament from Kiribati), Joe Viloria (a cultural practitioner and fisherman from Guam who is working relentlessly to restore a perceived ancient Chamorro culture), and Adrienne L. Kaeppler (curator of Oceanic Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.)
A documentary by Dennis Dellschow and Eric Petzoldt.
Co-funded by the AKB foundation.
Premiere: Munich, Germany: ESfO 2017, 2 July 2017
International Premiere: Hagatna, Guam: GUAM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, 1 October 2017
Upcoming Screenings:
Apia, Samoa: November 2017
Stuttgart, Germany: Linden Museum, March 2018
British Society for Ethnomusicology, April 2021
University of Cambridge, June 2021
The Four Seasons (in Climate Change) (2022)
Inspired by current and projected climate data and already visible consequences of climate change on flora and fauna, Antonio Vivaldi's work "The Four Seasons" was reinterpreted by Professor Mark Barden (Composition, Detmold University of Music) with the assistance of the composition students Carlo Tosato, Zara Ali and Daniel Kalantari. Scientific insights were provided by Professor Alexander Knohl (Bioclimatology, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, University of Göttingen) and ENLIGHT researchers. In cooperation with the Göttingen Baroque Orchestra (Conductor Antonius Adamske) the new composition „The Four Seasons in (Climate) Change“ premiered on 9th of September 2022 in concert, at the University of Göttingen. In between the four concert movements, Professor Knohl and his colleagues explained the influence of climate change on the seasons as well as Professor Barden and his composition team provided a general explanation of how the scientific findings on climate change were taken into account in the development of the new composition.
Documentary, funded by ENLIGHT, and DAAD.
Solarwind - the Story of Two Islands (in production)
Feature Documentary - produced in Spain and the Cook Islands - in production
The Cook Islands are among the first nations worldwide that aim at securing an energy supply with 100% renewable energy, mostly from Solar power. 17,500km away from the Cook Islands lies El Hierro: The smallest island of the Canary group works relentlessly to secure her energy needs through wind energy. Both island societies are linked by their efforts for sustaining the natural living conditions of our planet.
Our feature-long cinematic documentary SOLARWIND aims to show how shared commitment and sustainable technology can change lives for the better. The film will also include footage from 1999, when, another German film team (led by Rolf Husmann and Markus Hüsgen) came to the Cook Islands: Their still unpublished material shows the installation of the first solar panels on Penrhyn and Manihiki.