Director Thomas Riedelsheimer

Striving for Nature’s Experience

Have you ever felt Zen when you leave the theatre? Have you ever seen a movie with visuals like moving photographs? People who have seen “Rivers and Tides” probably can recall this experience and say, “Yes, I have.” This year, Vancouver International Film Festival presents the same director’s new movie called “Breathing Earth: Susumu Shingu working with the Wind.” The director, Mr. Thomas Riedelsheimer, once a film professor of Emily Carr University, gave an exclusive interview for you!

The Inspirations in Understanding Nature: Goldsworthy and Shingu

To make a documentary, Mr. Riedelsheimer needs to be touched by the person who has some connection to nature. Even though he is known for his movies like “Touch the Sound” and “Soul Birds,” his first connection to nature started during “Rivers and Tides (2001),” a documentary about Mr. Andy Goldsworthy. Mr. Goldsworthy is a world-famous English land artist, known for producing site-specific sculptures in natural settings. “Andy was my first encounter to art and nature,” Mr. Riedelsheimer recalls.

In this new movie “Breathing Earth,” Mr. Riedelsheimer follows a Japanese artist/architect, Mr. Susumu Shingu. Mr. Shingu is around 70 years old and dreams to one day construct a city with energy created solely by wind and water. Mr. Riedelsheimer not only agrees with the way Mr. Shingu sees the world, but is also very much attracted to the way he and his wife work together. “I am fed and nourished by my contact to nature. I would like to watch people and see what kind of relationship they have with nature.” He adds, “Susumu transfers what he learns through his work (with the wind) to his life, including his relationship with Yasuko (his wife).” To him, Mr. Shingu is a person whose life breathes the philosophy learned from nature.

Recently Mr. Riedelsheimer came back from San Francisco. He is now working with Mr. Goldsworthy again for an upcoming movie. Is this a sequel to “Rivers and Tides”? It could be, but they have different intentions. In the first movie Mr. Goldsworthy was alone trying to understand the nature. Now, after a decade, he wants to work with the nature of all living things in man-made environments. The film explores how the life of Mr. Goldsworthy has changed, yet continues to produce such exceptional work. This is a 90-minute documentary called “The Human Touch” which will hit the box office in 2015.

“Be Invited” to Touch the Origin of Nature

Mr. Riedelsheimer reads Haiku, and compares the way he captures the moments to this particular style of writing. Haiku poems are typically made out of basic words in three short lines aiming to capture an essence of a big moment. “It’s like Basho’s frog and water” he smiles. “It’s a kind of poetic approach to see normal things around us. You just stand there, watch closely, and become aware of it. Then it opens up a window, a window into the bigger world of nature.”

Everyone is welcome to visit Mr. Riedelsheimer’s short film collection website “Be Invited” (http://www.be-invited.de) and experience how he sees the world. He uploads one film every week, with a total of 40 films at just a click away for your entertainment. Why? It is because he finds them extremely precious. He just wants us to be more aware of the great “little things” around us, like the pattern of lights, the raindrops falling, or the leaves in the wind… Here we can even discover some of Vancouver’s little things that we all know but take for granted, and be amazed at how such ordinary things can be transformed into art. “Be Invited” is the place where Mr. Riedelsheimer can connect with you. He simply wants to share and hear from you.

His Message

In today’s world we are forced to make decisions and take actions. We all want a little power to control others and feel superior. “But in nature,” Mr. Riedelsheimer contues, “things are happening without us. We cannot control wind, rain, or water… To me, nature is humbling our self-importance or ego. It teaches us how small we are, and makes us realize that we can only watch and be aware of it.”

Regarding today’s environmental problems, Mr. Riedelsheimer understands that it is very hard for people to change their behavior or their way of thinking. Most of the time we know what is right and wrong in our heads, but we cannot act accordingly. He believes that the best way to reach people’s hearts is through the experience that film can give us. This is what he would like to accomplish. “I cannot make sculptures but I can roll and edit film the way that is almost a first hand experience. You just sit there and watch, be there, connect, and I would like to share my 90-minutes of magic, that is…nature.”

Are you ready for this magic? Be there on: Fri. 9/27 14:30, Tue 10/8 19:15 (both at Vancity Theatre), Fri. 10/11 16:30 (SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts)