DOK Leipzig Opens with new Film by Thomas Riedelsheimer

“We all think we know what light is. But if we take a closer look, we realise that we don’t,” the film “Tracing Light” tells us. DOK Leipzig will open at the CineStar in Leipzig on 28 October with the world premiere of this latest film by Thomas Riedelsheimer (“Rivers and Tides”). This renowned German filmmaker previously opened the Leipzig festival in 2004 with his film “Touch the Sound”.

In “Tracing Light”, co-produced by ZDF/3sat, Riedelsheimer now explores the phenomenon of light, creating a dialogue between two disciplines – art and physics – that approach it in different ways.

From the Outer Hebrides in Scotland to the Advanced Research Centre at the University of Glasgow to the Max Planck Institute in Erlangen, the film accompanies leading scientists and such internationally prominent artists as Ruth Jarman, Joe Gerhardt, Julie Brook, Johannes Brunner and Raimund Ritz. Between super slow motion, laser table football, “firestacks” and quantum theory, they aim to find out: What kind of a material is light? How do photons behave? How do we perceive the world around us – and through what means?

“Thomas Riedelsheimer’s documentaries are a delightful celebration of light and sound,” says festival director Christoph Terhechte. “They sharpen our senses. Twenty years after opening our festival with ‘Touch the Sound’, we’re proud to be doing it again with ‘Tracing Light’.”

Thomas Riedelsheimer has received multiple awards, including the German Film Award and the Adolf-Grimme-Preis, for his work as a director and cinematographer. In 2008, he co-founded the production company Filmpunkt GmbH with Stefan Tolz, after having been a partner in the production platform Filmquadrat for several years. He is a member of the German and European Film Academies and has been a lecturer at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg since October 2006. Since 2018, Riedelsheimer has overseen “dok.art”, a programme he devised to develop content for documentaries by first-time directors. He will discuss the programme in a public DOK Talk.

Riedelsheimer will also hold a master class at the Ex Oriente Workshop at DOK Leipzig.

“Tracing Light” website: sonjahenrici.com/films/tracinglight/

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Tue Steen Müller
Tue Steen Müller

Müller, Tue Steen
Documentary Consultant and Critic, DENMARK

Worked with documentary films for more than 20 years at the Danish Film Board, as press officer, festival representative and film consultant/commissioner. Co-founder of Balticum Film and TV Festival, Filmkontakt Nord, Documentary of the EU and EDN (European Documentary Network).
Awards: 2004 the Danish Roos Prize for his contribution to the Danish and European documentary culture. 2006 an award for promoting Portuguese documentaries. 2014 he received the EDN Award “for an outstanding contribution to the development of the European documentary culture”. 2016 The Cross of the Knight of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. 2019 a Big Stamp at the 15th edition of ZagrebDox. 2021 receipt of the highest state decoration, Order of the Three Stars, Fourth Class, for the significant contribution to the development and promotion of Latvian documentary cinema outside Latvia. In 2022 he received an honorary award at DocsBarcelona’s 25th edition having served as organizer and programmer since the start of the festival.
From 1996 until 2005 he was the first director of EDN (European Documentary Network). From 2006 a freelance consultant and teacher in workshops like Ex Oriente, DocsBarcelona, Archidoc, Documentary Campus, Storydoc, Baltic Sea Forum, Black Sea DocStories, Caucadoc, CinéDOC Tbilisi, Docudays Kiev, Dealing With the Past Sarajevo FF as well as programme consultant for the festivals Magnificent7 in Belgrade, DOCSBarcelona, Verzio Budapest, Message2Man in St. Petersburg and DOKLeipzig. Teaches at the Zelig Documentary School in Bolzano Italy.

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