Jasmina Hirschl (Austria)

Bratislava 2011

On the one hand, my interest in so called "documentary films" lies on the fact, that film can be a powerful medium to gain public attention for subjects, that the persons behind the camera and at most also the persons that are on display, want to be spread. On the other hand, I think that claims to objectivity in "documentary films" have to be treated with caution.

Film is no objective document. The mere fact that filmmakers choose film and audio clips and arrange them in an editing process, shows that an objective view is illusionary.

In my own work I try to draw a bow between reflective distance to and personal sympathies for the stories of interviewed persons. I also claim to demonstrate the existence of more than just one reality and to allow antilogies within the movie. It is important to me to rather make the film tangible as a medium than to simulate reality.

"Documentary films" do not show a definite overall picture. The pictures can only remain fragmental, just like the insights of the filmmakers do.