Showreel here we go. While many of these projects are still on the cutting room floor, here’s some of the moving frames I shot throughout the last 2 years, condensed into a Cinematography reel.
It might as well be boring as hell to watch random sequences edited together just because I liked the light.
You might consider not watching it for your usual IG-entertainment. BUT you can follow the link in my bio to see some of these projects in full length soon.
HUGE THANKS to every person who had their hand in on any of these frames- most, if not all of them would not have been possible without the tireless support of people doing what they truly love.
Photography by @alex_draheim 💙 The Uyghurs, a people from East Turkestan, carry a centuries-old culture. Today, however, millions are experiencing systematic oppression. Language, religion, and traditions are being pushed aside, while fear and control define daily life.
For many, only exile remains. Places like Istanbul, home to the largest Uyghur diaspora, become centers of arrival and preservation. Culture there is not simply conserved but carried forward as something living, as quiet resistance and an expression of resilience.
Our documentary project is dedicated to the voices, life stories, and memories of those in exile. It shows how cultural identity endures far from home, upheld by community.
In 2022, we were already able to accompany Gülzire in Munich. To this day, she misses her sister and her parents, who are believed to be held in Chinese internment camps. Against The Silence (directed by Martina Chamrad) had an impressive festival tour, screened at two Oscar-qualifying festivals, and brought international visibility.
Yet in light of Chinese policies, it remains just a drop in the ocean. The long arm of China was noticeable throughout the filming. The urgency of the new documentary arises from the systematic suppression of culture, religion, and people. With our films, we want to make visible, to return voice and dignity to the Uyghur community, and to build a bridge toward intercultural understanding.
Here you can see the first photos and some BTS from the production. We are currently in post-production — stay tuned. ✨
Director: @melda.ahmetoglu & @franziska.heinemann
Production: @boxfish.de , @melda.ufuk
Director of Photography: @manuel_trnd
Photographer: @alex_draheim
Editor: @twooneeyeddogs
Music: @spielfilmklang
Sounddesign: @keytone.io
Translation: Mukaddes Ali, Mihriban Ada
#humanrights #documentary #reportage #nikonz8 #z8
2024 hat gemacht was es will, hat’s aber echt gut gemacht. Würd mich echt nicht beschweren können. Und am liebsten hier ganz viel metaphorisch über alle möglichen Einsichten und Erkenntnisse reden, sodass man Spaß beim lesen und Fremdscham gleichzeitig empfindet. Aber ich traus mich nicht, ich mach lieber weiter Bilder. Grüße aus Ludwigsburg. Hamburg: ich vermiss dich!
Extracts from “Sehnsüchte” - A Visual Journal
🔗 still few books available through the link in my bio 🔗
1. Hamburg, Duc-Thu in bed
2. Hamburg, Jesse in the bar
3. Antigua Guatemala, Kids kissing
4. El Salvador, valentines day
Text and photo extracts from “Sehnsüchte” - A Visual Journal
available through the link in my bio 🔗
“A fast river of unalterable circumstances rushes between our current reality and our seemingly ideal vision of it. A deep desire, a yearning for something that is out of reach. A different reality. One might even lose themselves fully within that daydream, incapable of bearing the intense pain that our seemingly incomplete present holds.
Building bridges, we try cross that river. We try to force these distant visions to happen to us, we want to experience them so badly, and with that fill this gap that lies within us. But then, after crossing the waters of impossibilities, one often finds a whole different impression than what they had promised themselves of that warm, vibrant vision..“
