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KUGELMENSCH



THE BALL MAN

SHORTFILM - EXPERIMENTAL // 07:09 min. [2019]

 THE CREW 

The Ball Man, who seems indivisible in his unity, is torn in two by a diety that enters his world.

“KUGELMENSCH // The Ball Man” is an experimental reinterpretation of the story of the same name by the Greek philosopher Plato. Harry Besel's Ball Man narrative does not focus on the god of love “Eros”, but on the nature of human cohesion and the power that arises from it.

The film was shot with a Bolex h16 on Kodak Vision2 500T color negative film and was then digitally edited. Almost all the visual effects were realized in-camera. Only the composition of the subjects in space was subsequently realized afterwards in editing. 

 

“KUGELMENSCH // The Ball Man” premiered in November 2019 at the Kasseler Dokfest”, where it was also nominated for the “Goldener Herkules” award for best regional film production. Also the film screened  at the "Hessischer Hochschulfilmtag HHFT 2019" where it was also selected for the “Hessen Talents 2020”. Finally the film ran at the "On-Art Poland" Film Festival in Warsaw where it received an honorable mention. 

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DIRECTOR I WRITER I PRODUCER

Harry Besel

COSTUME I MAKE UP

Julia Gens

 

CAMERA

Johanna Groß
Daniel Hellwig

 

GAFFER

Ferdinand Kowalke

GRIP

Áron Farkas

SOUND DESIGN

Nik Baczewski
Harry Besel

ON SET ASSISTANCE
Nik Baczewski
Zenon Kristen
Áron Farkas
Massimiliano Crimi

SET PHOTOGRAPHER

Massimiliano Crimi

 

 

 THE CAST 

Robin Middeke

as Ball Man #1
 

Alexandra Münzner
as Ball Man #2

Harry Besel
as Deity

PRODUCED BY

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SUPPORTED BY

FILMSTILLS

BEHIND THE SCENES

FILM RECEPTION

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"Harry Besel and his camera team, Johanna Groß and Daniel Hellwig, have made a film as a semester project at the Kunsthochschule Kassel that can compete with many great experimental films in terms of both content and aesthetics. The film was shot with a Bolex camera on analog 16 mm cine film. It doesn't have to be 4K here, on the contrary: the soft noise has just as much meaning in terms of content as the scratches and the light and dark disturbances on the sensitive material - the team really succeeds in creating a universe of its own with an intensely condensed atmosphere."

Tina Waldeck - Artist I Journalist I Film, theater and media critic

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