Wednesday, November 1, 2017 - 6:00pm Fine Arts Building - Balcony Theatre Film Werner Fritsch is the author of numerous award-winning theater and radio plays, a highly acclaimed novel and the writer and director of three experimental films. His cutting-edge work, moving between different media, has received widespread acclaim in Germany and he has been awarded numerous prestigious scholarships and prizes, including Best German Audio Book for Enigma Emmy Goering (2009) and the prestigious Kulturpreis Bayern (Bavarian Prize for Culture). The German national magazine Der Spiegel called him “Germany’s boldest poet.” Fritsch’s extended film poem “Faust: Song of the Sun” reflects on a central moment in Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s seminal play Faust, offering a stream of images and text probing Faust’s notion of contentment in a beautiful moment. Attempting to counter the pervasive notion of globalization as taking over the world, Fritsch’s film explores the diversity of foreign cultures and different natures, highlighting “a certain human vision” of “watching the world with open eyes.” “Faust: Song of the Sun” is a cultural adventure addressing fundamental questions about human relations, faith, the nature of beauty and the mythical foundations of reality. Filmed all over the world in India, California, Egypt, New York, Germany, Norway, Nepal, Mexico and New Zealand, the film has been described as “ …a delirium of wild colours and idyllic nature, images of wonderful music and powerful lyrics…. This film is pure madness” (Der Spiegel). The first episode of “Faust: Song of the Sun” was screened at UGA in 2016. This year the artist will present the second part in substantial clips with an introduction, synopsis and commentary.
