EXTERNAL EFFECT
External Effect – documentary film (in development / early production)
Documentary film on the structural interrelations of environmental degradation, social activism against it, and successful forms of sustainable development, such as circular economy or renewable energy.
The film thus addresses the consequences of ecological damage, the ›costs‹ of which, so far, have hardly been covered by the actors causing them, but by the global community or, in a figurative sense, by the planet itself.
Direction, filming, editing & co-production: Jens Schwarz / color / HD / feature length
Release date to be announced 2024
A LETTER TO JENNA
A Letter to Jenna – documentary film (in development / early production) [preliminary teaser]
A Letter to Jenna is an exploration of the information space - in episodes at different locations across the world, the film follows activists in the context of disinformation, interviewing experts and observing the battle of narratives in the streets.
Shooting locations: Ukraine, Germany, UK, Belgium, USA
Direction, filming, editing & co-production: Jens Schwarz / color / HD / feature length
Release date to be announced 2023/24
BLUE DONKEY & RED ELEPHANT
Blue Donkey & Red Elephant – documentary film [trailer]
Direction, filming & editing: Jens Schwarz / D, USA, UK 2021 / color, b&w / HD 42 min
Shooting location: USA
On 6 January 2021, an angry mob of supporters of the 45th president of the United States, who had already been voted out of office, stormed the parliament building on Capitol Hill. What will go down in history as the “Capitol Riots” was only the most media-effective culmination of a longer process of polarisation, which was driven forward with particular ardour during Donald Trump's term in office.
The feature length documentary film “Blue Donkey & Red Elephant” explores the dichotomous political identities within American society and investigates the promoted and propagandised narratives of its division.
Based on and formally structured by statements from interviews with protagonists from both camps, the film openly looks at different ways of life, social settings, perceptions and behaviours within the political spectrum.
Using the foreground of the political campaigning ahead of the 2020 Presidential Election and the electoral fracas during the 2020 Primaries, the film investigates the sociological background and establishes a deep and subtle audiovisual narrative about what arguably has been strategically constructed, maintained and exploited as a so called social division.
Produced in the context of my postgradual research project at MAPJD - University of the Arts, London
Please see the project’s multimedia-version here.
The feature length documentary film is accessible here.
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