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Jeden Monat nähern sich unsere Kolumnisten, die Berliner Filmemacher Dominik und Benjamin Reding, dem jeweiligen Heftthema
auf ihre ganz eigene Art und Weise. Geboren wurden die Zwillinge am 3. Ja nuar 1969 in Dortmund. Während Dominik Architektur
in Aachen und Film in Hamburg studierte, absolvierte Benjamin ein Schauspielstudium in Stuttgart. 1997 begann die Arbeit an ihrem
ersten gemeinsamen Kinofilm „Oi! Warning“. Seitdem arbeiten sie für Fernseh- und Kinofilmprojekte zusammen.

Each month our columnists, Berlin-based filmmakers Dominik and Benjamin Reding, approach the respective issue-specific theme
in their very personal way. The twins were born on January 3, 1969 in Dortmund. Whilst Dominik studied architecture in Aachen
and film in Hamburg, Benjamin graduated in acting studies in Stuttgart. They started working on their first joint motion picture “Oi!
Warning“ in 1997. Since then they have tightly collaborated for TV and cinema film projects.

T here’s rubbish everywhere. Years ago, it was lying in the woods, thrown-out free- “Dear Mrs B., thank you for your enquiry. The authorized officer, Mr Jürgen Schnittgereit
no longer works for our company. In 2007, Drahtseilfarbrik Erwin Suchowiak GmbH.
zers, crumbling wall units, worn sofa sets and so on. Now there’s rubbish in city
centres, in doorways, in car parks, on pavements. Everywhere. Sometimes garnished merged with the gearwheel manufacturer Edelstahl Winterhaus KG under the new
with cardboard signs such as: “To give away!” Nothing is “given away” on the abando- name S & W Spezialstahl AG. There are expansion plans for the site you mentioned. We
ned petrol-station site next door, it is “disposed of” here, by the tonne. The site has thank you for your enquiry, but we must inform you that demolition and a new building
been fenced off for a long time, the fence has also been full of holes for a long time, on the same site are planned. We ask for your understanding. Yours sincerely, Mrs
behind it are piles of cracked TV armchairs and broken clothes drying racks. Sometimes Sander.” Then more glossy brochures from the company S & W Spezialstahl AG. Photo-
there are books, toys and exercise books lying around the worn furniture. Three weeks graphs of gears and wire ropes in all sizes, followed by a letter from Diana, now in
ago, a storm had caused the fence to become horizontal and now the rubbish is also artistically designed computer graphics: “Dear Mrs Sander, dear S & W Spezialstahl AG,
lying around the street crossing in front of it. I walked past in the pouring rain, dodging I have been studying dance at the Julliard School in New York, Manhattan, since 12th
the slippery, soggy piles of paper with some difficulty. A narrow pile of perforated January 2009. I was lucky enough to be selected from 500 applicants after the audition.
pages, obviously torn from a file folder and bonded into a wet lump, made me stop. On NY is fantastic, I love it! I’m planning to return to my hometown in Germany after my
the top sheet was a word, a certain word of ancient Greek origin, unknown in this master’s degree in November 2012 and set up my own dance academy there. When I
neighbourhood: Architecture. In school handwriting, in fountain pen on chequered was visiting my parents just now, I passed by your property again and saw that your old,
paper. I picked up the lump of paper, took it back to my place and put it on the radiator beautiful Bauhaus office building is still vacant. I would love to rent the top floor for my
in my study to dry. The rain dripped out for a long time. Then finally, carefully, the pages dance academy. I’m sure it would also be good if the room were heated and maintained
could be separated. The remains of a correspondence where the last pages were mis- by us. I could afford around 1,000 euros a month rent. Thank you in advance for your
sing. I sat down at the desk, drank black tea and curiously started reading: “Dear reply. Please keep your fingers crossed for my intermediate examination at the Julliard
Drahtseilfabrik, dear Mr Director, we, the dance group of the Albert Einstein Gymnasi- School! Fond regards, Diana B.” This time the answer came quickly: “Dear Mrs Diana
um, are preparing a dance production to be performed at the graduation ceremony; it B., as we have already informed you, there are intensive plans for the conversion/rede-
is to be On the Town by Leonard Bernstein. I’m playing one of the three sailors (the one velopment of the site. In the meantime, S & W Spezialstahl AG has merged with Shang-
named Chip). We don’t have a sufficient number of boys in the group, hai Steel Ltd. CSC. Significant internal reorganization measures are
so we girls also dance some of the boys’ roles. We can’t rehearse at also imminent. We are therefore unfortunately unable to make you
our school since our gym is currently being repaired. That’s why I an offer. Yours sincerely, Shawn Hunt, CEO/Real Estate Management.”
wanted to ask you if we could perhaps rehearse at your factory pre- After more than two years, Diana’s response: “Dear Mr Hunt, I’m
mises for four weeks, every Friday. While walking past your company, sorry that I’m only replying to you now, but a lot has changed for me:
I saw that an old office building (at the crossroads, next to your main After completing my master’s degree at the Julliard School, I accepted
entrance) is vacant. It’s a large brick building, with rounded corners engagements as a dancer in dance projects at various theatres and
much money, but we’re pooling our money for this. Would that be Foto: Benjamin Reding the Royal Opera House in London and the Staatstheater Stuttgart.
and lots of windows, in that Bauhaus-style architecture. At the very opera houses, including the Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco,
top is a canteen (?), hence a large room with high windows. Could
Two years ago, I got married and a year ago I had a child, my dear
we, the dance group, use the room for our rehearsals? We don’t have
Lucia. I returned to my home town in 2014 to found my own dance
possible? Please say yes! With best regards, Diana B...” then the family name. The signa- company. On a walk after the premiere of my production of Orpheus and Eurydice at
ture is unpractised but powerful, it should probably look particularly mature, somewhat the local opera house, I was walking through the night-time streets of my youth, tired
dramatic. A reply follows. Three months later. A letter from Drahtseilfabrik Erwin Sucho- but happy. And that’s when I saw your old office building again. The ground-floor win-
wiak GmbH, typed on thick embossed paper: “Dear Mrs Diana B., thank you for your dows are now boarded up, the brick walls are covered in graffiti and the large windows
letter of 3rd February 2004, which we read with interest. We are pleased that you on the top floor have been smashed. Overall, the company premises look abandoned.
appreciate our office building, which was built by General Director Dr h.c. Erwin Sucho- As my dance company and I are now permanently engaged at the municipal opera
wiak Sr. commissioned in 1927. As you correctly noticed, the building is old and we house and I am expecting my second child in the summer, I would be happy if I could
intend to replace it with a new building in the near future. I am therefore sorry to have acquire the vacant former office building as a place for my family to live and for my
to refuse your request. However, we will be happy to respond to your enquiry should dance company to rehearse. I would love to save this simple, Bauhaus-inspired office
new opportunities arise. We wish you luck and success with your dance-theatre project! building from decay. I have grown fond of the “rounded corners”! Thank you from the
Yours sincerely, Jürgen Schnittgereit, authorized signatory.” A year later, a letter from bottom of my heart for your efforts, Diana B., choreographer, M.A. PS: On Sunday 15th
Diana, now typed: “Dear Mr Schnittgereit, I have graduated from high school and we, May, our current piece, Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town, premieres here at the opera
the enthusiasts from our former school dance club, have founded a dance group tog- house with an all-female cast. I’m dancing the sailor Chip. You are cordially invited!”
ether. The Free Spirited Movers! We dance everything from breakdance to ballet and This is where the correspondence ended. Perhaps a dog had chewed up the last pages
rehearse twice a week and would like to rent the room/former canteen (?) at the top of or there was simply no reply. The name of the town remained intelligible, blurred by the
your office block. I was there yesterday and the building is still vacant. Would it be rain. Should I look for it, google it? I pushed the crumpled sheets of paper aside. There
possible to rent it? We would also tidy everything up afterwards and repaint the room. is an office building like this everywhere, certainly in your city. It’s vacant, decaying,
Thank you for your reply, best regards, Diana B.” Her signature confident, but now more soon to be demolished. Or a dance academy rehearses on the top floor and perhaps
natural. The reply letter was caked with a company brochure, the printing ink melted: young families live on the floors below. That would be possible, wouldn’t it?

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