die elfte Woche

WEEK ELEVEN

Our last film screening was Wolfgang Becker's Goodbye Lenin. I first saw this film about two years ago and liked it so much that I bought it shortly after. As much as I liked the film before, it had a whole new meaning for me after having been in Berlin for a few months. I also feel that this film is perhaps the most relevant to our film projects and to our experiences in making a film about Berlin. For me, the film is largely about the creation of memory and how perhaps we choose to focus on those memories which are most important or dear to us. In the film, Alex attempts to create for his mother his own version of the DDR in order to explain to her events that have happened while she was in a coma. In doing so, Alex is "creating" a world that his mother sees as absolutely true. Thus, Alex "creates" truth from fictional events. Alex's construction of truth is a microcosm of the film itself. The film Goodbye Lenin creates a sense of memory and nostaligia, or "Ostalgie", even though it is through the fictional story of the Kerner family. Through Alex's struggle to keep the DDR alive for his mother, along with the changes he himself experiences, the film creates its own sense of truth. Perhaps the truth that the film creates is manifested in its power to evoke feelings of nostalgia from such fictional events. Thus, the power of this film is that it comments on the creation of memory and truth through Alex's attempt to protect his mother, while simultaneously creating for its viewers a larger sense of memory and nostalgia for the DDR and the period during which the film takes place. In the same way, I feel that our film is trying to create a memory, perhaps only for the creators, of our time in Berlin. Although our film is also a fictional tale of a girl's initial experiences in Berlin, I feel that it will always be a reminder of my time in Berlin and thus will create a sense of nostalgia. For me, the ability of our film to evoke such feelings gives it a sense of truth. After watching Goodbye Lenin this time around and through the readings, I have come to the conclusion that truth and "true" memories can and have been created through fictional events. What is most important and meaningful, then, is the manner in which a story is told, not necessarily the validity of the events themselves. This became true for Christiana Kerner and it happens to us as viewers as well.

This week our film group has been working intensely on editing our film. We have devoted at least two to three hours a night to editing. So far the process has been relatively easy, thanks to Christopher's and Kerry's familiarity with final cut pro. The most difficult aspect of editing has been going through all of the footage that we have and deciding not only which footage to use, but which parts of footage. However, we have run into some mechanical problems that have taken awhile to sort out. My role in the editing process has remained quite consistent; I am usually right next to the person operating the software and go over all the footage and we decide what to use, how to cut it, and all the other small details. However, although I haven't used the software myself, I feel that I have definitely learned how to use the software just by watching Christopher and Kerry use it for hours and hours. I feel confident about our film so far and am not stressed about finishing, but we still have alot to do. I am excited to be finished with the film and to see all the other films.