Walden

Walden is named after the book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau.

In an Austrian forest a fir tree is felled and processed into planks. By train, truck, boat and finally by hand, the material is transported to a mysterious destination in the Brazilian rainforest.

Composed of just 13 rotating shots, this is a formally impressive rumination on subjects such as globalization and nature, and reverses the usual raw material trade route. With a constant slow scan the film creates space to reflect in-depth upon different socio-political realities. This film could be said to belong to the current «slow» movement in its production values and contains echoes of the work of James Benning and and his structuralist contemporaries.

Daniel Zimmermann (Swiss, born 1966) is a visual artist, dramaturge and filmdirector. Originally trained as wood sculptor, he works on film, installation and performance art. His works are based on a fictional actionism located between visual and performance art.