Peter Volkart

The travelling salesman Jonathan Fisch peddles glass eyes. His journey takes him to the edge of the province, where he checks in to a run-down hotel. The attic room number 606 has its pitfalls. Something rather peculiar is happening beyond the wall. Jonathan Fisch can expect a very turbulent night. A night that begins one evening in late autumn and doesn’t end until spring.

A visual epic about subliminal longings and the aesthetics of suffering. A work of atmospheric images and sounds dedicated to the retina, the eardrum and the soul. The young Inuit - the sea seems to have washed him up one day, to some place forgotten by God and time. Time, which is commonly called life, sticks to his fingers. Three steps behind him leaps the parasite of eternal suffering. The story begins in this enraptured sphere, focusing on a series of episodes in which the young man's fate takes its course: in a strange world that knows its own laws.

Subotika, a little-known island on the other side of the globe. An enchanting country with extraordinary sights, grand visions and a couple of minor problems.

Engaging with objects from everyday culture is a hallmark of Peter Volkart, both in his art objects and in his films. Volkart stages mysterious journeys that venture into unknown territory and penetrate the consciousness like will-o'-the-wisps, as in "Terra incognita." His short films have a magical appeal: they have been shown at numerous film festivals in Switzerland and abroad and have won many awards.

He was in the headlines for a brief period in the late 1920s: Igor Leschenko, the young physicist from Hermannstadt, whose bizarre experiments cast doubt upon the law of gravity. The debacle at the pataphysicist convention leads to a secret expedition to the point of zero gravity. Rare film documentation of a hazardous journey beyond Zentropa through the Karfunkel archipelago. Will he ever find the Nanopol island?

A photo that you hold in your hand immediately after clicking? 70 years ago this was an almost magical innovation! The story begins in the post-war period with the brilliant American inventor Dr. Edwin Land. Polaroid’s instant photography is born, a phenomenon that subsequently shapes whole generations of snap shooters and photographers, attracting a wide array of wildly experimenting artists. Half a century and a digital revolution later, the demise of Polaroid seems unavoidable. But the presumably dead keep on living. What follows is the miraculous resurrection of a cult object in a world dominated by Smartphones. SUBITO is not just an originally narrated film about the origin and importance of instant photography, it is also a highly amusing insight into popular culture and the untiring human enthusiasm for technical novelty. Renowned film artist Peter Volkart ventures into feature film length for the first time with this fascinating and sprightly narrated documentary essay.

The travelling salesman Jonathan Fisch peddles glass eyes. His journey takes him to the edge of the province, where he checks in to a run-down hotel. The attic room number 606 has its pitfalls. Something rather peculiar is happening beyond the wall. Jonathan Fisch can expect a very turbulent night. A night that begins one evening in late autumn and doesn’t end until spring.

A visual epic about subliminal longings and the aesthetics of suffering. A work of atmospheric images and sounds dedicated to the retina, the eardrum and the soul. The young Inuit - the sea seems to have washed him up one day, to some place forgotten by God and time. Time, which is commonly called life, sticks to his fingers. Three steps behind him leaps the parasite of eternal suffering. The story begins in this enraptured sphere, focusing on a series of episodes in which the young man's fate takes its course: in a strange world that knows its own laws.

A visual epic about subliminal longings and the aesthetics of suffering. A work of atmospheric images and sounds dedicated to the retina, the eardrum and the soul. The young Inuit - the sea seems to have washed him up one day, to some place forgotten by God and time. Time, which is commonly called life, sticks to his fingers. Three steps behind him leaps the parasite of eternal suffering. The story begins in this enraptured sphere, focusing on a series of episodes in which the young man's fate takes its course: in a strange world that knows its own laws.

Subotika, a little-known island on the other side of the globe. An enchanting country with extraordinary sights, grand visions and a couple of minor problems.

Engaging with objects from everyday culture is a hallmark of Peter Volkart, both in his art objects and in his films. Volkart stages mysterious journeys that venture into unknown territory and penetrate the consciousness like will-o'-the-wisps, as in "Terra incognita." His short films have a magical appeal: they have been shown at numerous film festivals in Switzerland and abroad and have won many awards.

Engaging with objects from everyday culture is a hallmark of Peter Volkart, both in his art objects and in his films. Volkart stages mysterious journeys that venture into unknown territory and penetrate the consciousness like will-o'-the-wisps, as in "Terra incognita." His short films have a magical appeal: they have been shown at numerous film festivals in Switzerland and abroad and have won many awards.

He was in the headlines for a brief period in the late 1920s: Igor Leschenko, the young physicist from Hermannstadt, whose bizarre experiments cast doubt upon the law of gravity. The debacle at the pataphysicist convention leads to a secret expedition to the point of zero gravity. Rare film documentation of a hazardous journey beyond Zentropa through the Karfunkel archipelago. Will he ever find the Nanopol island?

A photo that you hold in your hand immediately after clicking? 70 years ago this was an almost magical innovation! The story begins in the post-war period with the brilliant American inventor Dr. Edwin Land. Polaroid’s instant photography is born, a phenomenon that subsequently shapes whole generations of snap shooters and photographers, attracting a wide array of wildly experimenting artists. Half a century and a digital revolution later, the demise of Polaroid seems unavoidable. But the presumably dead keep on living. What follows is the miraculous resurrection of a cult object in a world dominated by Smartphones. SUBITO is not just an originally narrated film about the origin and importance of instant photography, it is also a highly amusing insight into popular culture and the untiring human enthusiasm for technical novelty. Renowned film artist Peter Volkart ventures into feature film length for the first time with this fascinating and sprightly narrated documentary essay.