November Rose – The Film – Our Story
How it all started: inspiration and a faux pas
It all started in 2011 when I watched Thomas Riedelheimer’s film “Rivers and Tides” for the first time. Never before had I seen a film of such visual force and calming beauty. The next day I woke up with this daring vision that Thomas would know exactly how to visualize the invisible dimensions of what I had wished to express in November Rose: A speech on Death, a philosophical meditation that I hoped would bring consolation and understanding to others who experienced what I had experienced: the loss of a loved one.
I contacted Thomas Riedelsheimer by email, and despite being a complete stranger to him, he sent me a very kind reply, albeit with an explanation of why he didn’t feel ready to take on this project at the time.
It all started again in 2021 with a huge faux pas. I went through my email history, came upon the email exchange with Thomas and decided to print it out for my records. Why? God knows. And then it happened: I accidentally hit the send button again, resending the email! I was mortified. How utterly embarrassing. All I could do was apologize and ask him to disregard my email. Yet, instead of deleting both of these accidental emails, Thomas wrote back to me, as graciously as he had written to me the first time around. That same day, we exchanged five more emails, spoke about Japanese Haiku, November Rose: A Speech on Death, morphogenetic fields, Thomas’ film Seelenvögel, life, death and survival … and on that very same day Thomas offered his creative collaboration on November Rose, a project of consolation. The rest – as they say – is history … and here for you to enjoy.
I contacted Thomas Riedelsheimer by email, and despite being a complete stranger to him, he sent me a very kind reply, albeit with an explanation of why he didn’t feel ready to take on this project at the time.
It all started again in 2021 with a huge faux pas. I went through my email history, came upon the email exchange with Thomas and decided to print it out for my records. Why? God knows. And then it happened: I accidentally hit the send button again, resending the email! I was mortified. How utterly embarrassing. All I could do was apologize and ask him to disregard my email. Yet, instead of deleting both of these accidental emails, Thomas wrote back to me, as graciously as he had written to me the first time around. That same day, we exchanged five more emails, spoke about Japanese Haiku, November Rose: A Speech on Death, morphogenetic fields, Thomas’ film Seelenvögel, life, death and survival … and on that very same day Thomas offered his creative collaboration on November Rose, a project of consolation. The rest – as they say – is history … and here for you to enjoy.
About Us
Thomas Riedelsheimer
Director, Cameraman, Editor, Photographer Born September 1963; studied at the Academy for Film and Television in Munich (1984-1991); since 1986 free-lance author, director and DoP; lecturer at seminars on cinematography and documentary film making; worked with 16mm, S16mm, 35mm and all video formats. Being a cameraman himself, Thomas specializes in poetic, sensual films with a strong visual level for cinematic release. Although his documentary films cover a wide range of subjects, he often finds himself working with artists and the human relation to nature. Thomas has received numerous major national and international film and television awards for directing as well as for editing and camerawork and he participated in many official sections of international film festivals. His film “Rivers and Tides – Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time” was a huge success in cinemas around the globe and earned him worldwide recognition. Since October 2006, he has taught regularly at Filmakademie Ludwigsburg, Germany. In 2008, Thomas and Stefan Tolz founded the production company Filmpunkt GmbH. In 2009/2010, he taught film for one year at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, Canada. In 2012 and 2015, he was invited to exhibit a series of photographs at a solo exhibition in Mexico City and in Munich. Thomas Riedelsheimer lives in Munich, is married and has two children. He is a member of the German and European Film Academy. Awards (selection) 2014 Jury Award, Montreal FIFA (International Film Festival for Films on Art) 2013 Adolf Grimme Award (Best Documentary on German TV) 2013 Green Tenacity Award, San Francisco 2013 NatureVision Special Jury Prize, Ludwigsburg, Germany 2010 Prize of the Union of German Cinemas 2005 German Filmprize “Lola” Best Sound Design 2004 BAFTA Award Scotland (British Academy for Film and TV) 2004 Golden Dove Leipzig 2004 Prix Semaine de la Critique Locarno 2003 2 x German Filmprize "Lola - Best Camera and Best Documentary“ 2003 Best Documentary, San Diego Critics Circle 2002 Best Documentary, German Film Critics Association 2002 Best Documentary, San Francisco Critics Circle 2002 Golden Gate Award and Grand Prize, San Francisco 2002 Grand Prix, Montreal FIFA 2001 German Camera Prize 1998 Film Award, Munich 1993 German Video Art Award 1993 Adolf-Grimme Award (Best Documentary on German TV) Credits as Director, Director of Photography, Editor (selection) Leaning into the Wind – Andy Goldsworthy Scotland/Germany 2016/ , 92min, Skyline Productions with Filmpunkt GmbH The Colour of Yearning Germany 2016/ 92min, Filmpunkt GmbH and Skyline Productions Be Invited – An Internet Project with 56 Short Films Running From Dec 2013 - Dec 2014 Private Investors, still online under www.be-invited.de Breathing Earth – Susumu Shingu ´s Dream D/Scotland 2012, 93min Super 16mm, Filmpunkt GmbH and Skyline Productions Jardin en el Mar – Cristina Iglesias Mexico/D 2011, 68min, DVCPro HD, Fundea, Mexico with Filmquadrat.art Seelenvögel („Soul Birds“) Pauline, Lenni and Richard Germany 2009, 90min, DVCPro HD, WDR and BKM „Alison Watt – A Painter´s Eye“ Scotland 2008, 30min, DVCPro HD, Skyline Ltd, Edinburgh for the BBC Touch the Sound – A Sound Journey with Evelyn Glennie D/UK 2004, 98 min, col., 35mm (S16mm); Prod: Filmquadrat with Skyline Productions for BR,ARTE, YLE, FFF, FFA, BKM, NW and Scottish Screen, International theatrical and TV release Beyond the Horizon – Timbuktu and the Delta of the Niger D/UK 2003, 2x43min, col., Digi Beta; Prod: Filmquadrat GbR for BR Rivers and Tides - Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time D/UK 2000, 90 min, col., S16mm, director, camera; Prod: Mediopolis, Co-Prod: Skyline Productions for ARTE, YLE, FFF, Filmboard Berlin and Scottish Screen, International theatrical and TV release. Metamorphoses (Metamorphosen) - Three Encounters with Death Germany 1997/98, 45 and 93 min, col., Digi Beta 16:9, ZDF and 3 Sat Lhasa and the spirit of Tibet (Lhasa und der Geist Tibets) Germany 1996/97, 60 min, col., Digi Beta 16:9, BR “Floating means Love” ("Schweben heißt Lieben”) - Three People Beyond Normality Germany 1994, 80min, col., 16mm, ARTE, ZDF "Das kleine Fernsehspiel", 3Sat Government on Air – The Staging of a World Economic Summit Germany 1992, 63min, sw, 16mm, in collaboration with M. Beger & M. Schwerbrock, ZDF, 3Sat The Brides of Christ (Sponsae Christi) -The Lives of Three Young Ordained Nuns; Germany 1991/92, 68min, col., 16mm, ZDF "Das kl. Fernsehspiel“ “You will shoot then” ("Dann werden Sie schon schießen...") - Three Months of Basic Training in the National Army; D, 1988/89, 60min, col, Highband |
Dr. Kathrin Stengel
Author, Philosopher, Publisher Kathrin Stengel, Ph.D., cofounder and president of Upper West Side Philosophers, Inc., Studio & Publishing, studied philosophy at the Universities of Leuven (Belgium), Munich, and Konstanz (Germany). She has taught philosophy at Seattle University and the Rhode Island School of Design, and has published widely on ethics, aesthetics, and epistemology, including Yoga for the Mind: A New Ethic for Thinking and Being & Meridians of Thought (with Michael Eskin) and Das Subjekt als Grenze (The Subject as Threshold) — a comparative study on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language and Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy of perception. For her book November Rose: A Speech on Death — a philosophical meditation on loss, grief, and survival — she received an Independent Publisher Book Award in 2008. A frequent guest on radio programs throughout the US and Europe, Kathrin Stengel has created and produced international philosophical events, including ‘What is Space? A Philosophical Inquiry into Space and the Imagination’, ‘About Style: A Philosophical Meditation on the Question of Style’, and ‘On Imagination: A Philosophical Studio’ (all three at the Rhode Island School of Design), as well as ‘Thinking and Experiencing Space’ (Germany), ‘Philosophical Walks with Nietzsche’ (Switzerland), ‘Pain and Beauty in Philosophy and the Arts’ (Seattle University), and ‘Image and Music: Improvisations on the 14 Stations’ for the Interfaith Assembly for Homelessness and Housing in New York City (in collaboration with David Michalek and Christoph Hammer), video documentation of which was on display at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 2005. For many years, Kathrin has also taught Vipassana Meditation and practiced Jin Shin Jyutsu. She lives in New York City with her husband and has three sons. Awards 2014 Living Now Book Award 2008 Independent Publisher Book Award |
