Die Hohlmenschen
“Don’t be scared,” he’d whisper, “There’s nothing to be scared of. It’s just the hollow people.” Peter Nestler has made a film based on Israeli author and scriptwriter Etgar Keret’s short story “The Hollow Men”. a man’s memories of his childhood, marked by the fear of bodiless voices and masks. A beautiful and terrible miniature at the same time.
Peter Nestler
Also Directed by Peter Nestler
“This film is about the indigenous cultures of Ecuador, of what is past and what is preserved, of destruction and resistance, of persisting in new ways, of music in the villages high up in the Andes, of music in the cities and in a tropical climate among descendants of African slaves. The film is about Earth, about working with Earth, sacred to the indigenous people. An account of beauty that silences, of friendliness, also grief.” (Nestler)
Portrait of a small south German village and its residents in the early sixties. Rural culture is undergoing a transformation caused by the intrusion of the industrial world. Gestures at work and words of its inhabitants.
Filmed aboard a Hungarian ship, this is a journey upstream the Danube, recalling the vital role the majestic river played in the settlement and political evolution of central and south-eastern Europe. Bridges, locks, cities and mountain ranges float in front of the camera to the noises of the ship’s motor.
In 1950, Picasso was offered a room that had once been used as a chapel in his hometown of Vallauris. He pictured turning it into a “pagan site for a unique cult” that would “unite all the people and be dedicated to peace.”
"Nestler is unsparing in his reckoning with Germany, its fascist history, the treatment of local and migrant workers, and the political stagnancy in the years following the war." - Film Society of Lincoln Center
Filmed in Spain, Finland, Sweden, and West Germany, Spain! investigates ideas of internationalism and solidarity, using personal testimonies from former members of the International Brigades who joined the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War and from members of the Workers’ Commissions (Comisiones Obreras).
One of Peter and Zsóka Nestler’s most important works, the film confronts the persecution of the Roma and Sinti in Germany under Nazism and its persistence after the war. Print courtesy of Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin.
In a 13-minute navigation, Nestler takes us downstream the Rhine River. The opportunity of cheap water transport kept prices of raw material down and made the Rhine one of the most important arteries of industrial transport in the world.
Rarely screened two part documentary on the Swedish-Chilean folk music group Victor Jaras barn [Victor Jara's Children], formed by folk musician and researcher Mariella Ferreira. One of several films by Peter and Zsóka Nestler in the 1970's and 1980's on the political situation in Latin America, produced for Swedish public television.
Still photography combined with moving imagery in this portrait of civic life in Chile. Made for Swedish public television almost a decade after the 1973 coup d'etat.