If there were words to describe the nuance of traveling through Armenia and Azerbaijan, it would be somberly majestic. The vast mountains and dry plains are the main stage of the 96-minute Landshaft (Daniel Kötter, 2023). Kötter submerges us subtly into the beauty of a landscape that, as the film progresses, seems to be an illusion. It combined technical and experimental formulations that intersect with extractivism, war, and all its causes.
This ‘travel’ documentary follows Kötter’s adventure across Eastern Armenia, from Lake Zevan to Azerbaijan, while he visits the survivors of the Nagorno-Karabakh war that began in 1988. In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan launched an invasion to seize the Nagorno-Karabakh region. This event left the Eastern Armenian population with many war stories. Through Landshaft (2023), Kötter aims to uncover the deep psychogeography subservient to the logic of ethno-nationalism between Armenia and Azerbaijan after the Soviet collapse.
The many uninterrupted long-shot throughout the film is an open invitation from Kötter to us to take a look beyond the war. The landscape and social consequences of extractivism served through many visuals and acts. We are sitting in the passenger seat while Kötter acts as a driver who chauffeurs also as a miner who digs up trauma, wounds, and resilience of the war survivors’ memories. The territorial dispute between countries is the main heart of the film. Not only presented by humans, even the animals agree with the concept of these borders.
Lastly, Landshaft (2023) bravely serves us with the many rough memories and struggles, invites us to carefully watch everything in front of the windshield, and also what’s in the rear window. Landshaft (2023) is competing for International Feature-Length Competition Festival Film Dokumenter 2023. (bonivasios dwi) (Vanis)
Film Details
Landshaft
Daniel Kötter | 96 Min | 2023 | Armenia, Germany | Color | 17+
Screening Schedule
12.05 | Auditorium IFI-LIP | 19.00 WIB
12.08 | Gedung ex Bioskop Permata | 13.00 WIB
