DOK Leipzig will open 28 October 2024 with the world premiere of Thomas Riedelsheimer’s Tracing Light which looks at the phenomenon of light from both scientific and artistic perspectives.
The German filmmaker previously opened the Leipzig festival in 2004 with his Touch the Sound. In his new film, 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.
The synopsis reads how, 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. Embracing diverse concepts such as super slow motion, laser table football, firestacks and quantum theory, they aim to find out what are the properties of light, how photons behave, how we perceive the world around us – and through which 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 during a public DOK Talk. Riedelsheimer will also hold a master class at the Ex Oriente Workshop at DOK Leipzig.
The entire DOK Leipzig selection will be published 10 October.
