White Coal

An industrial film on two kinds of labour: socialist and capitalist. A poetic investigation of human relations with the soil and the Earth. A striking journey from Poland to Taiwan that makes us think, contemplate and dream. Pure film. Cinematographic poem in two parts about the world of coal. The episodes shot in 16mm black & white are about the crew of a Polish coal ship - inspired by Herman Melville’s The Confidence-Man - while the parts in colour are set in and around the world’s largest coal-fuelled power station. Georg Tiller does not seem interested in socio-economic conditions: White Coal is a quest for forms and motives. In spun out, tranquil scenes, the camera glides past huge machines, open spaces and mysterious-looking control rooms. Tiller is primarily inspired by industrial films from the past (especially the 1920s), and the present. As plot, dialogues and music are absent, Tiller demands a great deal of patience from the viewer, but this also forces us to watch more closely. And he invites us to allow our imaginations to run riot.