DOCUMENTARIES
SEASONS OF CHANGE ON HENRY'S FARM
For a quarter-century, Henry Brockman has worked alongside nature to grow delicious organic vegetables on his idyllic Midwestern farm. But farming takes a toll on his aging body and Henry dreams of scaling back. While his former apprentices run the farm, Henry spends a “fallow year” with his wife Hiroko in Japan. But things don’t turn out as planned, and Henry must grapple with the future of farming in a changing climate on personal, generational, and global levels. "Best Documentary" – 2020 Vail Film Festival Director/producer/cinematographer: Ines Sommer Producer: Terra Brockman http://www.seasonsofchangeonhenrysfarm.com/ COUNT ME IN
Count Me In tells the inspiring stories of ordinary Chicagoans who are part of an innovative experiment in direct democracy – called participatory budgeting – that gives them direct say over local public projects and monies. The first in-depth documentary about this burgeoning national movement, Count Me In was supported by the MacArthur Foundation and aired on PBS stations across the nation in 2016 Director/producer/cinematographer: Ines Sommer http://www.countmeinmovie.com/ BENEATH THE BLINDFOLD
Beneath the Blindfold sensitively portrays four torture survivors from around the globe who are struggling with the long-lasting impact of torture on their lives. Available on Amazon Prime Director/producer/cinematographer: Ines Sommer Director/producer: Kathy Berger http://beneaththeblindfold.com/ ‘Beneath the Blindfold’ reminds us of the immorality and illegality of torture, even when disguised as ‘enhanced interrogation.’ This essential documentary shakes our complacency and determines us to insist on actual, effective abolition of torture in our time. — Juan E. Méndez, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment |
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EXPERIMENTAL
Ines' earlier experimental films/video screened widely at film festivals, independent cinemas, and alternative venues in the U.S. and Germany. They include the hybrid docu-fiction Ghost Cities and My Germany: Unqualified Remarks of a Distant Observer, an award-winning video essay that reflects on German history and the Holocaust.
Several of Ines' experimental 16mm shorts were influenced by the aesthetics of the silent film era and included playful, surreal reflections on women's roles and motherhood in Red Shoe and A Still Life of Postcards. Re-interpreting the Lumiere Brothers' pioneering films for life in modern-day Berlin resulted in Que la lumière soit, a short that played in a special Super-8 program at the Berlin International Film Festival. mud & glory and The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof skewer archetypes and consumer culture with a light touch. Full filmography available upon request.
Several of Ines' experimental 16mm shorts were influenced by the aesthetics of the silent film era and included playful, surreal reflections on women's roles and motherhood in Red Shoe and A Still Life of Postcards. Re-interpreting the Lumiere Brothers' pioneering films for life in modern-day Berlin resulted in Que la lumière soit, a short that played in a special Super-8 program at the Berlin International Film Festival. mud & glory and The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof skewer archetypes and consumer culture with a light touch. Full filmography available upon request.
