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Founded in 2001, the INSTITUTE OF DOCUMENTARY FILM (IDF) is a non-profit training and networking centre based in Prague, Czech Republic, focused on the support of East European documentary films and their wider promotion. Our activities support filmmakers through all stages of completion – development, funding, production, post-production, and distribution. We aim at individual filmmakers (tailored consultations), groups of carefully selected professionals with projects or films (Ex Oriente Film, East European Forum, East Silver, Doc Launch, etc.), broader professional community (East Doc Platform), as well as the general public (portal www.DOKweb.net). We closely work with key int. festivals, broadcasters, distributors, sales agents, markets, or training initiatives and serve as the GATEWAY TO EAST EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY FILM.

Director
Michael Pilz
Producer
Michael Pilz
Production company
Michael Pilz Film
Director of photography
Michael Pilz
Editor
Michael Pilz

Invocation of bliss

Austria, 2009, 92 min, Digi Beta, Creative, Experimental

Synopsis Credits Languages Production Festivals Photogallery

In May, 2006 I traveled around Iran, a small camera always close at hand, and experienced some of the most memorable „magical moments“ of my life. At Shiraz, I strolled through the garden of Hafez, the great Persian poet from the 14th century. There was this moment when I pointed my camera at the alabaster tomb at the center of the garden for about one minute. The footage shows a group of people of all ages that grew from just a few at first to about fifty. They all engaged in a meeting of a very special and personal kind and their behavior suggested something that can only be described as the spirit of Hafez.
I edited this succession of images and made it last 18 minutes. Then I added five duplicates of the resulting footage and inserted an additional close-up between them, which shows Arabic calligraphy of one of Hafez''s most famous poems that is inscribed on his tomb.
The soundtrack is a composition that draws on different sources such as sound bites from Hafez''s garden at Shiraz and other locations around the country. It also focuses on rain, wind, thunder, and a brook that I had my ears close to. To a large extent, Iran consists of sand and salt deserts as well as bare mountain ranges. In an environment of this kind, water means life, pure and simple, and people of all ages have built the most beautiful gardens and palaces around it. This is clearly another film about meditation.
Michael Pilz, September 17, 2009

Director:

Michael Pilz

Producer:

Michael Pilz

Editor:

Michael Pilz

Director of photography:

Michael Pilz

Sound:

Michael Pilz

Languages:

Michael Pilz Film (Production company) Teschnergasse 37
A-1180 Vienna, Austria