Kunst als Waffe – John Heartfield
Trailer
Cultural Documentary, arte, 52min,
Next broadcast: May 14, 2025, 10:55 PM
“A film full of metamorphoses and magical ideas. Everything is incredibly staged with great attention to detail. Truly unique and absolutely worth seeing.”
Christof Boy, WDR Westart (translated from german)
Broadcast on rbb: 14. May at 22:55
Synopsis
Bertold Brecht called him one of the most important European artists. He
himself adopted an English name in protest against German warmongering.
John Heartfield is considered the inventor of political photomontage and
was seen as a state enemy not only by the Nazis but also found no real home
in socialist Germany.
In her cultural documentary, filmmaker Katrin Rothe now fascinatingly shows
how the life of the unyielding John Heartfield unfolded. For this, she uses
his own methods and also manages to make his turbulent life palpable with
sophisticated stop-motion animation.
“The montages are not created to be hung in an exhibition. Their purpose is to affect the masses. The place where they belong is the brain of the masses!”
John Heartfield (translated from german)
Press
23.August 2024, Bikini Berlin 07:30 PM
Katrin Rothe in an interview with Marion Brasch in studioeins by radioeins.
Credits
Book, Director & Animation Direction: Katrin Rothe
Narrator: Anna Thalbach
Voice of John Heartfield: Manuel Harder
Puppetry and Voices of Comrades: Michael Hatzius and Dorothee Carls
Camera: Thomas Eirich-Schneider, Richard Marx, Manon Pichon, Jana Pape
Editing: Rolf Lange, Hannes Starz
Music: Micha Kaplan und Thomas Mävers
Sound design: Lukas Brandes
Master: Ramon Orza
Storyboard & Design & Animation: Lydia Günther, Tonina Matamalas, Gyula Szabó, Cornelia Freche, Anne-Sophie, Raemy, Werner Kernebeck, Lisa Sinram, Benjamin Swiczinsky, Konrad Weisse, Conrad Tambour, Cornelia Diomis, Amélie Cochet, Malte Stein, Lisa Neubauer, Wolf Matze, Birgit Schollen, Jonatan Schwenk, Kerstin Zemp, Lydia Günther, Theresa Grysczok, Mandy Müller, Rosanne Janssens, Edoardo Pasquini, Melanie Hauffe
Props & Documents: Dennis Hanig, Noushin Redjaian, Harald Haimböck, Cölestine Engels
Archives: Bundesarchiv, Akademie der Künste, The National Archives UK, Stiftung Studienbibliothek zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung
We would like to thank the heirs of John Heartfield and the Academy of Arts Berlin © THE HEARTFIELD COMMUNITY OF HEIRS / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023!
Production: Bettina Morlock (DE), Susanne Berger (AT), Sereina Gabathuler (CH), Paul Thimm (RBB/arte)
Producers: Gunter Hanfgarn, Andrea Ufer, Ralph Wieser, Sereina Gabathuler, Werner Schweizer
Editorial staff: Carolin Mayer (RBB/arte), Rolf Bergmann (RBB), Urs Augsburger (SRF SRG SSR), Gabriela Block Steinmann (SRF SRG SSR), Barbara Seiler (SRF, SRG, SSR)
A production by HANFGARN & UFER, Mischief Films, Dschoint Ventschr Film production
In coproduction with rbb, SRF SRG SSR in collaboration with arte with support from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, German Federal Film Board, Austrian Film Institute, FISA - Film Location Austria, Vienna Film Fund, Federal Office of Culture (BAK), Zurich Film Foundation, Zurich Study Library
Making-Of
Exhibition animated Photo-Collage - Making Of
Over many months, Katrin Rothe and her team brought film sets and figures
from the 1920s, 30s, 40s, and 50s to life using cardboard, paper,
documents, and paint. The exhibition showcases original film sets, the
storyboard, the script, miniatures, background slides, and 12 collage
boxes depicting stages from John Heartfield's eventful life.
The combination of handmade cutout animation and Heartfield's
photomontages in motion has garnered great interest not only in the
professional world. In 2023, the documentary animated feature film "Johnny
& Me" by Katrin Rothe premiered at the renowned Annecy Film Festival, the
Cannes of animated films. Invitations to Brazil, China, Spain, and Italy
followed. Now, large parts of the animation are coming to public
television. The Arte cultural documentary is titled "Art as a Weapon -
John Heartfield."
