Four men, one fun ride. They rig up and dismantle, turn round after round. They allow people to fly up into the air and look down on the earth, hurl visitors high into the night sky and back again.
None of the visitors have any idea what happens behind the scenes. The film tells a story of people who need each other and perhaps love each other, but can’t say any of that to each other.
Highriders
Johann Schilling
Born in 1999 in Bielefeld. Studies Directing at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg. Active as an artist and director.
2020 LIVE ACTION ROLE PLAY, Kurzfilm
2021 HELGA, Animationskurzfilm
2021 DA IST MUSIK DRIN, Web-Serie
2022 WO BUSSE SCHLAFEN GEHEN, Kurzdokumentarfilm
2022 DIE ASTRONAUTEN VON FEUERBACH, Kurzdokumentarfilm HOF 2022
2023 FLIEGENDE BAUTEN, Dokumentarfilm HOF 2023
“The project’s starting point for me was the question of who the workers behind the dazzling illusory world of fairground rides and fairgrounds are, and the desire to tell their stories. After all, they are usually cheap laborers who work for little money under precarious conditions.
Ultimately, the film deals with the shared loneliness of people who have found meaningful fulfillment and family structure in their devotion to a showman’s life. Toxic images of masculinity and degradation inform their bonds and raise the question of why they still seem to need each other. We devoted ourselves to this conflict, which is literally fought out at drop height – their work is highly safety-relevant –, and tried to trace the the individual group members’ personal motivation.”
Johann Schilling