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The four primordial elements Fire, Water, Earth and Air each symbolise a different aspect of life. To documentary filmmaker Jiska Rickels, they were the source of inspiration for 4 Elements, a four-part film about man's struggle with nature. In Fire, Siberian fire fighters defy forest fires spreading across hundreds of hectares. Water introduces fishermen in the Bering Sea, imperilling their lives to catch the exclusive king crab. Earth revolves around German miners daily descending 1200 metres into the earth. And Air follows Russian cosmonauts in their confrontation with the most extreme physical tests. Elaborating on her successful short film Untertage, Rickels immersed herself in four close-knit men's communities, where women are absent and camaraderie is strong. Hardly any words are spoken, there is no voice-over and the filmmaker does not interview anybody. Visual poetry - with a keen eye to detail - naturally blends with characteristic ambient sounds. The film was awarded as a Crystal Film.

Credits

Set geluid
Sound Design
Production company
Fu Works Productions
Distributor NL
A-Film Distribution

Title: 4 Elements
Year: 2006
Duration : 1 hour, 29 minutes
Category: Long Documentary
Edition: NFF 2007

Gouden Kalf nominees

Beste Geluid (2007)
Jillis Molenaar
Beste Lange Documentaire (2007)
Jiska Rickels
Beste Geluid (2007)
Tom Bijnen

Other awards

Kristallen Film (10.000 bezoekers documentaire) (2007)

NFF Archive

You are now in the NFF Archive. The archive contains contains information on film, TV and interactive productions that were screened at past festival editions. The NFF does not dispose of this material. For this, please contact the producer, distributor or broadcaster. Sometimes, older films can also be found at the Eye Film Museum or the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.

Stills

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