De l'air 2023

A reflection on memory and erasure, on what is passed on and what disappears. Shot in Northern Bavaria, in the artist’s birthplace, the film interweaves different narratives: that of a mother reading a Grimm fairy tale shortly before her death, that of a childhood friend who returns to live in the house for the last time, and that of a son who, while clearing out the rooms, comes up against the ghostly presence of a family history.

« I came back to Germany to spend my mother’s last days with her, in the solitude of the house. I started filming on the day she died, and these images are the last memories of a house I grew up in and left a long time ago. Nothing has really changed in the house since then, except that my parents are no longer there. Throughout the following summer, I emptied the house, keeping what I could and giving away or throwing away almost everything. From room to room, the film becomes a portrait of my mother and a reflection on the sense of loss materialized by light, dust and time itself. Later, in the empty house, I asked Heymo, a friend since kindergarten, to come and play his saxophone in the living room, again filling the space with music and life. From room to room, the film becomes a portrait of my mother and a reflection on the sense of loss materialized by light, dust and time itself. » JN

Born in Fürth, Germany, Jürgen Nefzger has lived in France since 1991, settling in Nice some fifteen years ago. Jürgen Nefzger has been awarded the Prix Niépce for his body of work. He is also a winner of the Villa Médicis Hors les Murs and the Prix Photo de la Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume. His work is represented by Galerie Françoise Paviot, Paris.

Jürgen Nefzger : «  Das Wasser des Lebens », 2014

8,34 min, Video HD, courtesy Galerie Françoise Paviot