Rising of the Setting Sun
Julie Hössle / Italy / 2019 / 52 min / Colour
The island of Faial, in the Azores archipelago, is often shaken by the thunder of the volcano, a giant that has shaped its rocky coasts over the centuries. Life in an isolated place, in the middle of the Atlantic, bears witness every day to the fragile balance of an imposing ecosystem, dominated by the peak of Cabeço Gordo. For Julie Hössle, the Portuguese island is a land of remembrance, a return to childhood and to a perhaps lost dimension, evoked by the words of its inhabitants. Their faces are the few witnesses to a seemingly inexorable mutation. Can man change things? The plastic traces brought by the storm, which even the birds feed on, tell of an impossible refuge in a polluted, rapidly changing world. The voices of the ocean, the earth and the sea creatures can tell a different story: a purity to look at, with difficulty, weaving a new bond with nature.
Julie Hössle
Julie Hössle studied cultural anthropology and educational sciences at the LMU in Munich. She is finishing her studies in film direction at the ZeLIG School for Documentary in Bolzano. She worked as assistant director for the documentary Alpgeister, and directed Memories of a Friendship and La ribalta.
Credits
Cinematography Andrea BertoldiSound Benedikt MühleEditing Claudia GerstlProduction company ZeLIG - School for documentary