Monika and Martin have known each other since childhood. After many years without contact, they meet again and walk through the forest of their memories. They tell each other about formative events and their mothers, show their most vulnerable sides and return to old places to dig up deeply buried memories. Video recordings from the past are viewed, and in the end, talking seems to be the most effective coping strategy. I AM HERE! by Ludwig Wüst tells the story of a person suffering from a traumatic experience in his childhood. His life so far resembles an endless odyssey. Eventually, he accepts his uprooted existence and emigrates, hoping to find a new home elsewhere. The story of this man is a tale of a very contemporary phenomenon: never before in the history of mankind has there been a comparable mass migration as in our present time. The most common cause of this is traumatic experiences, combined with the hope of arriving somewhere, sometime. The film was shot entirely on 16mm, resulting in one of Wüst's most beautiful and intense works to date. The often static and usually long camera shots convey the feeling of quietly observing the intimate exchange between the two characters. A film as painful as it is beautiful, celebrating togetherness as well as self-liberation from the legacies of the past. I AM HERE! celebrated its premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Wüst was awarded the Kodak Analog Film Prize at the Diagonale. The international film festival Filmadrid honored him with the award for best film.
Drama, Independent
1h 12min
16
DE
SV
EN
Two childhood friends meet up again after many years to dig up a secret buried deep in the forest.
Monika and Martin have known each other since childhood. After many years without contact, they meet again and walk through the forest of their memories. They tell each other about formative events and their mothers, show their most vulnerable sides and return to old places to dig up deeply buried memories. Video recordings from the past are viewed, and in the end, talking seems to be the most effective coping strategy.
I AM HERE! by Ludwig Wüst tells the story of a person suffering from a traumatic experience in his childhood. His life so far resembles an endless odyssey. Eventually, he accepts his uprooted existence and emigrates, hoping to find a new home elsewhere. The story of this man is a tale of a very contemporary phenomenon: never before in the history of mankind has there been a comparable mass migration as in our present time. The most common cause of this is traumatic experiences, combined with the hope of arriving somewhere, sometime.
The film was shot entirely on 16mm, resulting in one of Wüst's most beautiful and intense works to date. The often static and usually long camera shots convey the feeling of quietly observing the intimate exchange between the two characters. A film as painful as it is beautiful, celebrating togetherness as well as self-liberation from the legacies of the past.
I AM HERE! celebrated its premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Wüst was awarded the Kodak Analog Film Prize at the Diagonale. The international film festival Filmadrid honored him with the award for best film.