STRANDBEESTEN

STRANDBEESTEN is a portrait of the Dutch artist und scientist Theo Jansen. Since about 19 years Theo Jansen is occupied with the making of a new nature. Not pollen or seeds but plastic yellow tubes are used as the basic material of this new nature. He makes skeletons which are able to walk on the wind. Jansen’s ultimate dream is to build a whole herd of these Strandbeesten, capable of being put out to pasture and left to roam free. The art critics compare Jansen to Alexander Calder or Jean Tinguely. He sees himself rather in the tradition of Leonardo da Vinci. The film depicts Jansen´s open-mindedness, loneliness, his doubts and courage, his setbacks and ultimately, his visionary power.

Marcio Doctor, GRAMMY Award Winner 2007, is the composer of the film music. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1965, lives in Hamburg – Germany as a percussionist, studio and band musician, composer and member of the acclaimed NDR-Bigband (North German Radio) since 1995. Marcio Doctor, Randy Brecker and the WDR-Bigband, GRAMMY 2007

FESTIVALS:

XVI International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography CAMERIMAGE Lodz, Documentary Competition, Dec. 2008

Dokumentarfilmfest Kassel September 2008

ARTFIFA, Montreal, March 2009

Gdansk DOCFilmFest, April 2009

Pulse Art and Technology Festival, Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia, January 20-29, 2011