Peter Nestler's poetic documentary Verteidigung der Zeit is not only an hommage to Jean-Marie Straub's and Danièle Huillet's film Quei loro incontri (2005), but also to their access to cinema itself. In various encounters and conversations Nestler offers an insight into their life and work, including passages from Italian poet Cesare Pavese.

Verteidigung der Zeit

Ethnologist and adventurer, Count Eric von Rosen was a man of contradictions: interested in the natives of Africa and colonial racism. Nestler embarks on a journey in search of his grandfather.

Death and the Devil

A documentary about the Sami people across Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, and about the environmental devastation in that area throughout the 20th century.

The North Calotte

A film of Hungarian folk artists, sharing their handicrafts and paintings with the filmmakers.

Time

Peter Nestler illustrates a poem by Hans Sachs from 1540.

Die Hasen fangen und braten den Jäger

“This film is about the indigenous cultures of Ecuador, of what is past and what is preserved, of destruction and resistance, of persisting in new ways, of music in the villages high up in the Andes, of music in the cities and in a tropical climate among descendants of African slaves. The film is about Earth, about working with Earth, sacred to the indigenous people. An account of beauty that silences, of friendliness, also grief.” (Nestler)

Pachamama: Our Land

Today, the Römerstrasse in Italy's Aosta valley, is a significant traffic artery in the center of modern Europe. Nestler's journey explores the moving history of the Aosta valley, which passed through many hands - from the Roman Empire to Burgundian and Frankish kingdoms - until it was acquired by Italy in the 11th century. The now busy motorway, which runs from the Po Valley to the Great and Little St. Bernhard passes, is revealed through the timeless eyes of a historian. At the same time, the documentary sheds light on cultural traditions and contemporary life in the region.

The Roman Street in the Aosta Valley

Jewish painter Leopold Mayer fled his native Frankfurt at the rise of the Nazi regime. Although briefly finding refuge in France, where he changed his name to Leo Maillet, his stay was cut short by Germany's invasion of Paris. Flucht traces Maillet's escape from the Gestapo and the French police, using Maillet's "Entre chien et loup" series of paintings as the framework for the film. Accompanied by Maillet's son Daniel, Peter Nestler revisits the late artist's hiding places and depicts a hauntingly beautiful portrait of an outstanding artist on the run.

Flucht

The revolt at Sobibór extermination camp in October 1943 is a central episode of resistance against national socialism. Thomas «Toivi» Blatt, son of a Jewish businessman, was 15 when he was deported to Sobibór. Blatt was among those who managed to escape during the uprising only to find his newly found freedom deceptive when old friends and neighbours refused to help. Director Peter Nestler accompanied Toivi Blatt on his trips through Poland.