Was geschah wirklich zwischen den Bildern?

In addition to his work as a filmmaker, Werner Nekes devoted himself intensively to the origins of film and its theory. In many cases, his thoughts revolved around optical apparatuses and toys, literature and prints. To this end, he built up the Werner Nekes Collection, which comprises some 25,000 objects spanning five centuries. It is one of the largest of its kind. In his essay film Was geschah wirklich zwischen den Bildern? (what really happened between the images?), Nekes not only presents the objects in his collection, but also makes them come alive. Together with Bernd Upnmoor (camera) and Helmut Herbst (animation), he used all kinds of cinematic means to coax the wooden boxes and paper discs into their very own magic. The film is a testament to inventiveness and perpetual curiosity. Was geschah wirklich zwischen den Bildern? is a dense, surprising journey to the media-archaeological roots of film. (ho)

Henrike Okrent is a scientific-artistic speaker at the Filmmuseum Potsdam, which houses part of the Werner Nekes Collection.