Arsenal: Radio Play – UNTER SCHNEE

“In the mid-nineteenth century, the crepe merchant Bokushi Suzuki described the festivals and rituals of the inhabitants of Echigo, a region of Japan known for its extraordinary snowfall—where snow piles up several meters high and remains until May—in his book Snow Country: A Symphony of Everyday Life. With this travelogue in my luggage, I set off for the snow country in the winter of 2010/11 to seek out, in the present, the myths and fairy tales of the past.”
(Ulrike Ottinger)

From Ulrike Ottinger’s fascination with the Japanese snow country—where people developed a distinctive way of life and culture centered on snow—emerged not only the film Unter Schnee, but also the radio play of the same title. In it, Ottinger assembles everyday sounds, festival and ritual noises from the Echigo region, along with a narrative from the Edo period, creating an appealing interplay between documentary and fiction.

Audible are the crunch of snow underfoot, the rush of the wind, several of the 22 different words for snow (among them blossom-snow flurries, rice-powder snow, drum snow, foam snow), and the voice of Hanns Zischler, who recounts the story of the two Edo-period students Takeo and Mako. While spending their holidays in the snow country, they encounter—on their arduous journey—a beautiful snow woman and the spirit of a vixen, who transform them. Thus begins a journey through both the mythical and the real snow country: among other things, they meet women who weave long lengths of crepe from the finest flax threads, observe the traditional groom-throwing at a wedding, and witness preparations for a temple festival, accompanied musically by bamboo flutes, Japanese drums, and singing to the shamisen played by Yumiko Tanaka.

Together with Arsenal, we invite you to immerse yourself in the soundscape of the Japanese snow landscape in our Kuppelhalle, followed by a discussion with the director.

Guest: Ulrike Ottinger

The soundscape will be in German.

Thursday, March 5
Kuppelhalle
Start: 7 pm
Admission free