Here's part of the edgy voiceover from one of my favourite shorts in our upcoming program "Culture+Economy" -- the boasting little "Garden Gnomes" (BRD 1961, 10') created by Boris Borresholm, one of the co-signers of the 1962 Oberhausen Manifesto: "Looks accomplished. Puts you in the game. Just watch me!
If I don’t get a big slice of that Wonder bread … wonder ... wonder … slice -- no dice. Darn! There you go, look at that, got any idea where your money’s at!"
"The Garden Gnomes" is a satirical animation film about West Germany's famous "economic miracle" after 1945. Crawling out of the post-war rubble with white flags, garden gnomes exchange their steel helmets for jelly bag caps. In a joint effort of reconstruction, they rebuilt whole cities. But soon they go their separate ways again, to pursue individual careers and to follow the promises of limitless consumption. As fat German tourists, they overrun the sights of Paris or Athens ... until they turn back into ceramics again and land in the garbage.
See it October 5 at GOETHE FILMS @ TIFF Bell Ligthbox!
by Jutta Brendemühl, Goethe-Institut Toronto
