Jacco Prantl – creative producer, journalist
I’m happy to announce that next semester I will be teaching philosophy at the AKI Academy of Art and Design. The AKI is a inspiring art school that has a strong focus on practice which I find indispensable.
I am looking forward to be able to work with the students on the philosophical foundations of connecting art to thinking.
On Wednesday 6 July at the Fin! Filmfestival the wonderful film The Last Wall by Haider Aljezairi will screen at Lantarenvenster in Rotterdam.
Haider approached me with his remarkable project at the beginning of this year. He was about to travel to Kuwait and Iraq to film a fictional film with a local crew and actors nearby a conflict zone. The film is about local villagers having to leave their homes and families to fight against ISIS. The script is based on a true story and is filmed at the locations were it took place with a crew and actors that have experienced events like the one the film is based on firsthand.
When he first told me the details I was very surprised by the sheer ambition and adventure of his plan. To be honest, I was even a bit skeptical if he could pull it off. At the same time I was so curious about the material he was going to shoot, that I immediately promised to help him out with the sounddesign of his project. The result is this wonderful short film that has combines a local setting and atmosphere with a universal story about the basic human need of shelter.
Haider Aljezairi has a remarkable life story himself. He lived in a lot of different places in the Middle East and used to be a war correspondent during the last Iraqi war. In the Netherlands he started a new life, learned to speak Dutch flawlessly within a couple of years and studied movie direction at the Willem de Kooning Academy. He is undeniably a great talent and I am very curious to see what his next project is going to be.
I’m very proud that ‘Wild Flower’ by Fathia Bazi has won the ‘best debut’ award at the DocuTIFF festival.
The wise and very funny Lule, who is the main focus of the film, was present at the screening. It was her first time in a movie theatre.
I’ve been involved as a sound expert in the libel lawsuit of Dutch artist Tinkebell versus broadcasting organisation Omroep Brabant. More information about the case can be found in this report by the Volkskrant.
On the 4th of June Fathia Bazi’s wonderful film Wild Flower will premiere on the Tirana International Film Festival. It is part of the official DocuTIFF selection.
More screening dates TBA
UPDATE:
The trailer is online (full disclosure: design in the trailer is not mine).
Recently I designed a bell sound for a Zen meditation app for Zen.nl. I had lots of fun doing it. The sound is based on a recording of an original Japanese templebell which is very hard to reproduce on a telephone speaker.
If you’re into Zen and have the need for a wonderful timer, check the app out at the iTunes Store or at the Google Play Store.
I’m very proud to be part of the film ‘Wild Flower’ by Fathia Bazi. The film is about Lule, a 75 year old farmer that has lived on the countryside of Albania her whole life. She tells her remarkable life story while sharing her humour an her wisdom with us.
This is a remarkable film that is in its last stages of production. I did the sounddesign and mix for the film.
As soon as screening dates are announced, I will post an update.
On Thursday 10 march I will give a philosophy lecture at the AKI Academy. I will talk about the philosophical understanding of illusion by artistic means by exploring work of Plato and Gerhard Richter.
I’m proud to announce the release of the ‘One Minute Blues’ by Gustan Asselbergs. The project is an exploration of the fictional phenomenon of the music that is played in the Dutch coastal city of IJmuiden. In between production runs the molds that were used in the blast furnaces of the local industrial steel factory needed to cool down for a minute . This lost minute initiated an acoustic blues practice in which workers developed a strong, grooving, rough sound that started the IJmuiden tradition in Dutch blues music.
Gustan Asselbergs is a Dutch writer and musician. The One Minute Blues project consists of a beautiful limited edition notebook with short stories and a cd with ‘found field recordings’ from the IJmuiden blues tradition.
The cd is mixed and mastered by me.
It will be available online and at the Haarlem bookstore Athenaeum.
Gustan will read from his work at the ‘Avond van het korte verhaal‘ (‘Night of the short story’) on Friday 19 February at bookstore Pantheon in Amsterdam.
Last week I’ve recorded Steve Edwards’ jazz sextet at Arnold Mühren Studio in Volendam. Working with great musicians in such a wonderful space as the Mühren Studio is an absolute privilege. The London jazzscene is alive and kicking, that’s for sure.
Arnold Mühren and his son Patrick are the driving force behind the studio. They have been accommodating the greatest musical projects for decades and have tons of great stories to tell. The place has been rebuilt a couple of times over the years and has one of the best sounding medium sized live rooms I’ve ever worked in. Every little workflow is thought out and most of it is custom made. The passion driving a place like this sparks creativity and I would like to thank the guys for their hospitality and inspiration.
The project will soon be mixed and released. I will post again as soon as dates are being announced.
Photos by Katrin Magrowitz
