STILLE AMARE | In the still of a word amiss

Stille amare is a short movie born out of the trepidation of the most unusual year of this century. It’s an intimate glimpse into the loneliness, the loss and stillness that surrounds us when we are kept separate from one another. At the same time it is an ardent plea for the healing power of art.

(DE) Stille amare ist ein Kurzfilm, der aus der Beklemmung des wohl bisher ungewöhnlichsten Jahres dieses Jahrhundert heraus entstanden ist. Ein intimer Blick in die Einsamkeit, den Verlust und die Stille, die uns umgibt, wenn wir voneinander getrennt sind. Gleichzeitig ist es ein Plädoyer für die heilende und lindernde Kraft der Kunst.

Script by Aristoteles Chaitidis

Directed by Aristoteles Chaitidis & Alkistis kafetzi

Camera & Editing: Alkistis Kafetzi

Sound Design: Taiga Trigo

Τhe aria "stille amare" heard in the movie is from the Opera "Tolomeo" by G.F Handel. The arrangement was done by Konstantine Margaritis.

Guitar: Konstantine Margaritis

Voice: Aristoteles Chaitidis

The movie was shot entirely in a Lehel appartment in Munich, Bavaria on one weekend. Post-production completed in Berlin.

Directors’s Note

“Come on, let’s make a movie!” I said to cinematographer Alkistis Kafetzi while we were driving through quarantined German lowlands. Amidst wind turbines, misty fields and foggy hills we discussed life and circumstance in 2020. What sets this year apart from any other year is a shared experience all over the world that exceeds the usual triptych of human experiences love-laugh-die. This year we are all collectively held hostage by the smallest of beings: a virus.

An invisible force that has changed our ways and our view on ourselves as sovereign on this Planet. Stille amare is a mood study and a reminder of how vulnerable the individual becomes once it is cut off from others. The lack of community in its most basic form produces innumerable monads all over the world. But there is a light within every one of us. That light shines bright within the heart of music, art and the love for the self. So, let’s make that movie and let’s make it about love. And so we did.

Stille amare is a mood study on loneliness, isolation and the power within. It deals with a most unusual year and collective circumstance that have yet to reveal their long-term consequences. Stille amare is a short movie that explores intimacy and how to deal with your own emotions when physical distancing prevents direct contact. It underlines the paramount necessity of artistic expression both for the individual but also on a collective level. Perhaps today, it is even more important to make movies, write poems, compose music, paint pictures. Stille amare -bitter drops- is a reference both to medicine and poison. It reflects life in its most awkward, beautiful and unyielding.

Film Festivals

E&U European Short Film Festival 2021, Frankfurt am Main