Landshaft
Original title : Landshaft
Directed by : Daniel Kötter
Landshaft (2023) is a documentary by Daniel Kötter, selected in the “Competition Prix PRESENT” section of the 19th edition of the Paris European Film Festival, Europe by Europe.
The conflict between Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities for control over Karabakh continues to simmer. From Lake Sevan to the Sotk gold mine, occupied by Azerbaijan since the swift war of 2020, Daniel Kötter travels through a mountain-encircled border valley, meeting men and women who watch with apprehension as the drama unfolds. Landshaft sketches the psychogeography of a geopolitically charged landscape, dominated by mining activity, war, and uncertainty.
Photos
Press
“In this magnificently framed road movie, parallel stories of war and gold mining are woven, which seem to be two sides of the same violence done to the landscape. By giving voice to those who watch with concern the powerful on both sides being torn apart on their backs, Landshaft reveals the deep psychogeography of a territory subject to the deadly logic of post-Soviet ethno-nationalism .”
Emmanuel Chicon – Visions du Réel.
Reviews
“As for the form and my methodology, I try to create empathy with situations, spaces and systems, or with social classes and certain groups of society, rather than with individuals. In order to achieve this, it helps not to film the faces of the protagonists, but, as in this movie, rather to have a narrative like a journey, which allows people to appear and disappear throughout the film. For me, it’s more about what they say and about the presence of their voice. I want to give them a voice, rather than giving them a face and representing them visually.”
Daniel Kötter.
Credits
- Daniel Kötter Director
- Daniel Kötter Screenwriter
- Daniel Kötter Director of Photography
- Armen Papyan, Hayk Galstyan Sound design
- Daniel Kötter Editing
- Sarer Kaghechem, Gusam Sheram Original Music
- Jakov Munižaba Sound mixing
- Daniel Kötter Producer