Adria - Holiday films 1954-68 (The School of Seeing I)

Directed by Gustav Deutsch

ADRIA is an artistic analysis of film as a medium and of its meaning as SCHOOL OF SEEING. The subjects of this analysis are the beginnings of the Austrian hobby and amateur film creation, restricted to holiday movies from the Adriatic Sea. The footage was analyzed according to set focal points (image detail, camera movement, etc.) then dissected according to serial aspects (tracking shots, pans, etc.) and edited into new sequences (descriptions, reactions, etc.) These sequences are liberated from their individual isolation and unified in a sequence that reflects the general situation. This general situation reflects upon two aspects. One is the first active involvement with film as a medium - in front of and behind the camera - and the other aspect highlights social contexts such as the first holiday abroad and organizing one’s leisure time.Therefore the private depiction of an individual situation becomes a document of a general situation.