In Switzerland, a filmmaker who was fascinated as a child by the charcoal piles close to his home decided to make a film about charcoal burning. In the Congo, a French documentary filmmaker found a charcoal burner who undertakes this huge effort all on his own in order to feed his family. Both films were completed in the same year. We were fascinated by this coincidence, and it is the ideal starting point for a subject that inspires so many fundamental ideas.
Charcoal has been a source of energy for many centuries. Industrially produced charcoal still exists today, but the quality is inferior, and ecologically controversial. The sustainability of this trade is a problem. No one profits in the long term if the last trees are cut down in Africa to produce charcoal. Without doubt, charcoal burning also produces pollutants. On the other hand, it is an efficient and renewable energy source up to a limited degree.
Meanwhile, barbequing continues to gain popularity in Europe, along with new, rather luxurious ways of using charcoal – for example, in Japanese tea ceremonies. Charcoal burners in Switzerland are struggling to meet this increase in demand, primarily because only a few people are willing to do this exhausting work. However, Robert Müller, the director of KÖHLERNÄCHTE, sees in charcoal burning the intrinsic value of individual work restored as clearly distinguished from working conditions of financial capitalism (in reference to Richard Sennett).
This process of exhausting work can be witnessed in detail in both films. The conditions in the Congo are especially disillusioning because the charcoal burner works alone, while in Switzerland, several families work together and support each other. The oldest family members pass on their knowledge to the youngest. When watching this powerful film, we feel the organic and interconnecting aspect of this trade that brings the forest and people together.
Charcoal Burning
Köhlernächte
Robert Müller
Switzerland 2017 | 93 min | engl. subtitled
Switzerland 2017 | 93 min | engl. subtitled
Fri, 31-May-19 10:00 PM
In Switzerland, traditional charcoal burning is still a trade. Each summer, smoke rises out of the charcoal piles, or kilns. The procedure takes five weeks. The meticulous stacking of the … read more
Makala
Emmanuel Gras
France 2017 | 96 min | engl. subtitled
France 2017 | 96 min | engl. subtitled
Fri, 31-May-19 07:30 PM
Emmanuel Gras says that the idea for his film was quite simple. Kabwita, his protagonist from Kolwezi in the south of the Congo, makes a living from charcoal burning. Normally, … read more