BERG – Janneke Langelaan

At a time when we are all in need of ‘zooming out’, Joke Olthaar invited me to do just that. Seated comfortably in a Rotterdam cinema, she took me on a breathtaking escape to a Slovenian mountain range, as together we watched the landscape she loves and wants to honour in BERG. Being so high up one loses all sense of depth. And perhaps one gains a new kind of perspective. 

The still, wide angle images that Joke and her small crew filmed over a long period of time result in a very relaxing experience, but there is so much underlying tension. The mountain’s neutral position is brutal. Sunshine and bird song may turn it paradisiacal, but danger is never far off. Take one wrong step or let thunder surprise you and the mountain can be merciless.

Join this journey, from the comfort of your home or exotically in cinema. If you yourself are a mountain fan recently deprived of holiday heights, BERG will reinvigorate. It also proves how colourful the mountains can be in black and white. 

In Joke Olthaar’s versatile body of work it has always been the topic that decides on the medium and the length. This topic leads to the fact that a mature artist now presents her first feature film: this impressive mountain range requires all of its dedicated 79 minutes.

Written by Janneke Langelaan