Reign of Silence

A static shot shows part of a landscape, a serene body of water in front of a mountain. A motorboat enters the picture from the right, obeying the directions sent by radio and forming a spiral in the water´s surface. The boat then turns to the left and leaves the scene; solely its wake is visible for a time.
Reign of Silence records a human intervention in nature. Lukas Marxt employs as aesthetic material and artistic medium an untouched, barren landscape that’s strangely surreal, where humans aren´t really expected. In this reduced setting he plays with the fascinating aspect of an autonomous nature, made visible by his aesthetic action; with the constantly changing relationship between humankind, environment and water; with processes of temporality and perception.
The conceptual reference to Land Art is obvious, and also to Robert Smithson´s iconic Spiral Jetty, which can be read ironically. But Reign of Silence represents more than a kind of filmic memory of a passing moment. The film not only documents something, it actually lays the filmic image over this landscape like a transparency, as a second artistic medium, indicating something beyond it and expanding the perspective. Marxt looks for a perceptual dimension that demands not only a reaction to nature as a spectacle, but also to the circumstances in which it was reproduced, and finds for this purpose a concentrated and playful form. Until it all ends as it began: with a view of serene, undisturbed water and in silence, with a form that finds its way back to itself, and which has transitioned to something different.

(Barbara Pichler)

Orig. Title
Reign of Silence
Year
2013
Countries
Germany, Austria
Duration
7 min 20 sec
Director
Lukas Marxt
Category
Avantgarde/Arts
Orig. Language
English
Downloads
Credits
Director
Lukas Marxt
Concept & Realization
Lukas Marxt
Supported by
bm:ukk
Available Formats
DCP 2K flat (Distribution Copy)
Sound Format
5.1 surround
Frame Rate
25 fps
Color Format
colour
Digital File (prores, h264) (Distribution Copy)
Sound Format
stereo
Frame Rate
25 fps
Color Format
colour
Festivals (Selection)
2013
Oberhausen - Int. Kurzfilmtage
Wiesbaden - exground on screen
Jihlava Documentary Film Festival
Kassel - Dokumentarfilm- & Videofest
2014
Regensburg - Kurzfilmwoche
Hong Kong - Int. Film Festival
Lissabon - Indielisboa Int. Film and Videofestival
Graz - Diagonale, Festival des österreichischen Films (Honorable Mention)
Stuttgart - Filmwinter, Expanded Media Festival
Hamburg - Int. Kurzfilm-Festival & No Budget
Wien - Fulframe Festival
Nashville Film Festival
Prizen/Kosovo Dokufest Doc Film Festival
Zagreb - One Take Festival
2015
Wroclaw - WRO-International Media Art Biennale
Milano International Film Festival
Leuven - Short Film Festival