journey
28 times european love
Created by Max Scherer & Philipp Link
Over the last year, we’ve collected analog 8mm films, digitalised the highlights and paired them with young authors to write a new version of the stories told in the films.
Frequently asked questions
What is this?
EUROPE, OLD LOVE is an online webseries, made entirely out of European 8mm footage from the previous century.
Each Episode consists of authentic 8mm celluloid film collected from the respective EU member state. They’re matched with new love stories written by young European authors and narrated by native actors from each member state in their mother tongue. Additionally composers have created coherent scores to accompany the episodes. The result is a new story full of love for Europe.
When did you come up with this idea?
We started developing ideas in late 2018, while on a trip to Hongkong to visit a film festival and launched EUROPE, OLD LOVE in 2019.
Who are you?
We, Max and Philipp, are filmmakers and students at the University for Television and Film Munich. We’re part of GZF, Gute Zeit Film, a film production company based in Munich, Germany. We’ve collaborated on projects since 2016.
What are your wishes for Europe?
Today, Europe is an alliance of former enemies who became partners and friends. But not only Brexit has made us notice how this relationship is crumbling. As a younger generation we’re watching this situation with great concern. For us, a united Europe is the norm – but not something we should easily take for granted.
It was important to us to process our love for Europe artistically. We have been collecting film material for over a year now: On flea markets and from collectors. We even found some film rolls in the garbage. We then sifted through the material and checked it, digitised the highlights and passed them on to the authors. We love the new stories that the authors created from the old ones.
As filmmakers, we try to counter hatred and fear with a little love for Europe in regular doses, packaged in a contemporary way. Our filmic antidote to Brexit.
Where did you get all the footage from?
We’ve spent over a year collecting analog film material from family friends, flee markets and in some cases from analog lovers all over Europe. The old footage is both Normal8 and Super8. We collected over 70 film reels.
What is the process of making an episode?
At first we use an old Bauer T16sound and a BRAUN SB1 to view the old footage – the traditional way.
Selecting interesting sequences and determining what we’re going to use.
After scanning the material, we upload the sequence and share it with our designated author.
The author decides what story he or she is going to tell and gets to work.
After writing the author sends us the finished script and we look for someone to translate or help with the details.
After that the translated script goes directly to the voice actor, who records it.
Once we have all the different materials (footage, written story and the audio track) we get into postproduction.
The footage gets edited and put together with the new story and the lovely voice of our voice actor.
It get’s a finishing touch on the subtitles and then uploaded to our site and Instagram.
Who composed the EOL-Jingle?
The jingle is a variation of Beethovens “Ode to Joy”, the official European anthem and was arranged by Julien Hebenstreit, a munich author and musician, who also scored various episodes and wrote EP01 – France.
Who are the writers and can I connect to them?
We assembled a truly European crew of authors and you can check the full list here.
What is GZF?
Gute Zeit Film is a film production company, based in Munich. Founded in 2017, we started out as a film collective.
We produce shorts and commercials with an individualistic approach to film texture and storytelling.
Our shorts have been successfully featured at international film festivals worldwide.
SUMMER HIT won the Jury Award for Best Live-Action Short over 15 Minutes at 25th Palm Springs International ShortFest 2019.
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