On a cargo boat. Two Dutch brothers in their sixties. Faces and bodies marked by a whole life spent traveling on the Rhein, the Maas, the Danube... They are born on the water and the boat is their only house. The Watna measures 86 meters in length, 11 in width and 12 meters in depth. Most of the time Harrie and Leon are alone in their daily routine, while outside the landscape flows restlessly away at a constant speed of twelve kilometers per hour. Huge industries and romantic castles. Cargo boats and luxury cruises. Observed from the cabin, the river banks appear unapproachable and fleeting, bound to a parallel temporal state where every matter seems to float suspended. Meals are often solitary and there is only little time to rest: Watna cannot stop its rush against time, since the profit on carriage of raw materials barely covers the costs of the shipping.
WATNA is a project on perception of time and space: a meticulous scan of the variations of the central European landscape, observed through the slow, steady and restless navigation pace of a cargo boat. The film portrays the daily routine in a workplace, the barge named Watna, home for the owners as well as a mean of transport. The lives of the two sailors, the Van Laak brothers, is modulated by the narrow spaces of the cabin, by the overwhelming vibration of the engine, by the different smells emanated by the cargo hold. Launched in 1964, the vessel embodies an era nowadays belonging to the past, since small family business are increasingly supplanted by mighty navigation firms. We decided to focus on humble details in contrast with a wide and fleeting landscape, on the alternation of barely audible and deafening sounds. Through a dense editing we tried to re-enact the expanded time flow and the constant perceptive disorientation.
post production:
ATELIER 105
4 PRINTS IN DISTRIBUTION
|
distribution format |
DCP on USB stick (SMPTE 2K) |
|
screen |
16/9 (single screen) |
|
speed |
25 fps |
|
sound |
sound |
|
original language |
Dutch |
|
translation |
English (Embedded subtitles) |
|
rental fee |
83,00 € |
|
distribution format |
Digital file on USB stick (FHD) |
|
screen |
16/9 (single screen) |
|
speed |
25 fps |
|
sound |
sound |
|
original language |
Dutch |
|
translation |
English (Embedded subtitles) |
|
rental fee |
83,00 € |
|
distribution format |
DCP on server (SMPTE 2K) |
|
screen |
16/9 (single screen) |
|
speed |
25 fps |
|
sound |
sound |
|
original language |
Dutch |
|
translation |
French (Embedded subtitles) |
|
rental fee |
83,00 € |
|
distribution format |
Digital file on USB stick (FHD) |
|
screen |
16/9 (single screen) |
|
speed |
25 fps |
|
sound |
sound |
|
original language |
Dutch |
|
translation |
French (Embedded subtitles) |
|
rental fee |
83,00 € |
