UPAF 2011 Film#3 (short program):
“Solitary Life of Cranes” by Eva Weber, 2008, documentary, HD, 27min.
Part city symphony part visual poem, ‘The Solitary Life of Cranes’ explores the invisible life of a city, its patterns and hidden secrets, seen through the eyes of crane drivers working high above its streets.
Within the loose structure of a day, starting with the drivers climbing up at dawn and ending with them coming down after a nightshift, the film observes the city as it awakens with a bustle of activity, through the lull of midday and the manic rush in the evening, until it calms down again deep into the night. Throughout the film, the drivers share their thoughts and reflections on London and life in general.
What emerges is a lyrical meditation about how our existence is shaped through the environment we inhabit, both for the drivers high up in the sky and the people on the ground they are watching.
‘The Solitary Life of Cranes’ was premiered at Britdoc Film Festival in July 2008, where it won the Award for Best British Short Film. Since then, the film has won numerous other awards at festivals around the world, and nominated for the International Documentary Association’s Distinguished Short Award 2009. ‘The Solitary Life of Cranes’ was described as “one of the most absorbing documentaries of the year” by The Observer newspaper, and selected as one of the top five films of the year by critic Nick Bradshaw in Sight & Sound’s annual film review.
Eva Weber Bio:
Originally from Germany, Eva Weber is a London-based filmmaker working in both documentary and fiction.
Her films have screened at numerous international film festivals, amongst others, at Sundance, Edinburgh, SXSW, Los Angeles, Telluride and Thessaloniki. Her work has also been shown at art galleries and museums, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Eva is currently developing a number of long-form documentary projects.
[ selected filmography – documentary ]
The Solitary Life of Cranes 2008
Steel Homes 2008
City of Cranes 2007
The Intimacy of Strangers 2005
Makings of a Queen 2000
Website: http://www.cityofcranes.com/