Christina Benz

Shifting Sands Short Films

Under the theme "Life is too short", fantastical, everyday and absurd stories are told through a range of short films. Christina Benz uses black sand to animate the visuals with a stop-motion technique, while the narration and the sound were conceived in close cooperation with Swiss authors and musicians: Judith Keller and Nicole Johänntgen, Patric Marino and Oli Kuster, Gion Mathias Cavelty and Fatima Dunn. The films combine the artistic forms of drawing, poetry and music and explore their interactions.
Further info: https://shiftingsands.ch/

Berta, hingegen Jonas, aber Frau Wohlgemut
(Berta, however Jonas, but Mrs. Wohlgemut)

a film by Christina Benz

text and voice: Judith Keller
music: Nicole Johänntgen
sand animation, 4’20", 2020

Berta feels she has still a lot to do before she can say she’s lived. She needs to milk a cow, dance like crazy, always express her own opinion and travel somewhere on a cargo ship. Jonas doesn’t have time to die. Mrs Wohlgemut realises on her 80th birthday that the brightest days of her life are still ahead of her.

Fulesee

a film by Christina Benz
text and voice: Patric Marino (Die Astronauten)
music: Oli Kuster (Die Astronauten)
sand animation, 4’18", 2019

Sunday, Fulesee. Two people go diving in a lake. They understand each other without a word, everything seems ok. But the dive leads them not only to fish and into darkness, it also reaches into the depths of their souls. At 30 metres below the surface, fears and stories for which they cannot find any signs in diving language suddenly rise up.

G

a film by Christina Benz
text and voice: Gion Mathias Cavelty
music: Fatima Dunn
sand animation, 4’10", 2019

In the beginning was the letter. Only one letter, to be precise. The letter G, as the ancient Kabbalists say. Only this made the birth of God possible, and therefore, the creation of the universe. But what happens if the universe wants to grow bigger and bigger, enslaved quite literally by megalomania? Will the secret be revealed today?