Wood and Water
a film by Jonas Bak79' | 16 mm | Germany/France/Hong Kong | 2021
Anke retires from her job at the church in a small town in the Black Forest. She looks forward to reuniting with her children over the summer holidays by the Baltic Sea, at a place where they used to live as a young family, and where she lived her best years. At the last minute, her son Max is unable to join them because of the pro-democracy protests that are bringing Hong Kong, where he lives, to a standstill. She has been out of touch with him for many years and after an otherwise uneventful summer and facing the void of retirement, she decides to visit him. A mother wants to check in on her children every now and then, but Hong Kong is also her adventure, her escape. She takes up residence in his flat while Max is away on a business trip and cautiously begins to navigate this mysterious new world. Through conversations with strangers, she gradually settles in. A young woman who is sad to leave Hong Kong, Max’s doorman, a psychiatrist, a fortune teller and a social activist. These encounters and her experience of the city help her to break down the inner walls she constructed years ago and make way for a new chapter in her life.
50. New Directors / New Films, New York, USA
21. New Horizons IFF, Wroclaw, Poland
15. Fünf Seen Filmfestival, Germany
23. Taipei IFF, Taiwan
2021 Black Canvas Festival de Cine Contemporáneo, Mexico City
2021 Lucca Film Festival e Europa Cinema, Italy
Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente de La Plata FestiFreak, Argentina
65. BFI London Film Festival, UK
50. Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, Montréal, Canada
16. Tacoma Film Festival - Winner of the Best Cinematography Award
45. São Paulo IFF, Brazil
66. Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid, Spain
43. Biberacher Filmfestspiele, Germany
2021 Dharamshala IFF, India
66. Cork IFF, Ireland - Winner of the Youth Jury Award Special Mention
2021 CPH PIX, Denmark
39. Uruguay International Film Festival - Winner of the New Directors Best Film Award
2021 ArteKino Festival
26. Festival du Cinéma d’Auteur de Rabat, Morocco
25. Chicago European Union Film Festival, USA
2022 Borderlines Film Festival, UK
2022 Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival, UK
41 Foro Internacional de Cine, Mexico
V Festival Internacional de Cine Al Este, Colombia - Winner of the Best Film Award
XIII Festival Internacional de Cine Al Este, Peru - Winner of the Best Film Award Special Mention
Screenwriter, Director, Editor JONAS BAK Producer CHARLOTTE LELONG Co-Producers ULLA LEHMANN, ANDREA ROGGON Cinematographer ALEX GRIGORAS Assistant Director ADRIANA PRAXMARER Camera Assistant THOMAS ROWE Gaffer HSIEN YU NIU Sound Recordists CHRIS GAYNE, ALBERT HUNG KIN KONG, JEREMIE VERNEREY, ISAAC BERTULIS Sound Designers MARIAN MENTRUP, JONATHAN SCHORR, MICHELE BRAGA, MICHAL KRAJCZOK Starring ANKE BAK, RICKY YEUNG, ALEXANDRA BATTEN, PATRICK LO, THERESA BAK, PATRICK SHUM, SUSANNE JOHNSSEN, LENA ACKERMANN, EDWARD CHAN, AMY ACEITUNA, CHRISTEL JOHNSSEN Line Producers HEYNA WONG, ALBERTO GEROSA Production Assistant LORIEN STÖTZEL Funded by MFG FILMFÖRDERUNG BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG Supported by GERMAN FILMS, UNIFRANCE
Distribution: KimStim (www.kimstim.com), La Ola Cine, Cinemateca Uruguaya, MUBI, Filmfriend