Faint Echoes

“A friend had given me some old footage shot in Germany pre-WWII…during the ‘30s. Among all the images of sport, and people dancing, were images of Hitler making his early speeches. So this film is about the terrible tension of that period…jitterbugging on top of the volcano, the frentic activity to have a good life in the face of the brewing horror of Nazism. I used all kinds of techniques…travelling mattes, optical printer, rotoscoping and hand colouring, and scratching the film. The physical mutilation of the film frame, of Hitler’s image…scratching out his eyes, brought fantastic relief. But I’m still not finished with Hitler, because no-one is. History never will be.” (Paul Winkler)