Wenn der Film vorbei ist und das Leben weitergeht …
Filming is over and life goes on …

          
 
                     
 

Xu Zuowei aus Xi’an in China spricht im Film darüber, daß es seine persönliche Tragödie ist, nicht reisen zu können und die Welt nur aus dem Internet zu kennen.
Als er davon hörte, daß der Künstler Ai Weiwei 1001 Chinesen im Rahmen seines „Fairy-Tale“-Projektes für die Documenta 2007 die Ausreise ermöglichen wird, hat er sich sofort beworben. Leider war der Anmeldeschluss schon überschritten, er hat Ai Weiwei angerufen und darum gebeten, doch noch einen Antrag stellen zu dürfen.
Kurz gesagt: Wir haben Xu Zuowei im Juli 2007 in Kassel getroffen und uns lange mit ihm unterhalten.
Er möchte China verlassen, hat sich an vier australischen Universitäten für ein Filmstudium beworben, nimmt Englischstunden und hat ein Ausreisevisum beantragt.
Mittlerweile (Januar 2009) ist er in Australien (Melbourne) angekommen und hat sein anfängliches starkes Heimweh überwunden. Er ist auf den Reisegeschmack gekommen und möchte in Zukunft Gastsemester an anderen Unis in anderen Ländern studieren. “Another crazy dream“, mailte er uns neulich.
         
         
Xu Zuowei from Xi’an, China, speaks in the film about his personal tragedy which means he is not able to travel, knowing the world only through internet.
When he gets notice that Chinese artist Ai Weiwei invites 1001 Chinese to be part of his “Fairy-Tale“ project at at fair Documenta 2007 including an exit visa he applied immediately. Unfortunately the deadline was already over but he called Ai Weiwei and tried to apply directly …
In short: he succeeded and we met him in Kassel July 2007 and spent some time together.
He wants to leave China and applied at four universities in Australia for film studies and hopes to get the exit visa from Beijing.
Meanwhile (January 2009) he has settled down in Australia (Melbourne) and has overcome his primarily strong homesickness.
He has acquired a taste for traveling and would love to take visiting courses at universities in foreign countries.
“Another crazy dream“ he mailed us recently.
  Sergey Nagaev hat uns eine Mail geschickt, in der er seine Gedanken über unseren Film und was er bei ihm bewirkt hat, mitteilt. Wir finden, er trifft den Nagel auf den Kopf und wir hätten es nicht besser ausdrücken können, warum wir tun was wir tun:   Sergey Nagaev recently sent us an e-mail sharing his thoughts about our film and what effect it had on him. We think he hit the bull's-eye and we couldn't have expressed it better why we're doing what we're doing. Read here:

“… You forgot about people. I do not know about all but I have been changed by this film and about.
I was an ordinary engeneer who lives in ordinary small city. I have never think about travel to other countries before. Calexico was just a sounds or pictures, other countries were just a TV-news-picture or pictures from magazines or from internet sites. People were just an lines of e-mail messages. filmmaking was just a something far, far away. It was in the past.
And now Calexico is a memories about columbia halle show in my mind. and now I know - they are :-). I have seen other countries with my own eyes, I have seen mediterranean sea, tegel and U-Bahn, yards and imbiss, passionkirche and potsdammerplatz and much more. And I know - it is not a pictures or stories - it is a part of the world. the same part as my city or my work. and i belive it becouse i saw it. :-) I was a guest and I was a host too. And I have never think that other people interested in me or my life and my opinions about something. I was a little bit closed. Now I know other people the same as I. And now I am much more free. I know I can travel anywhere. I know I can talk with other people in my broken english and they understand me. And world is much more bigger than i think before. It is looking funny but it it a very important. I am trying to say "for me film's achievment is not only film as film but also changes of people involved in film". it is hard to explain but world has been changed not for whole world but for people who were involved in process of shooting and making film.“
 
 

Sergey hat schon länger die Idee, nach Irland auszuwandern (es gibt dort schon viele Russen und man weiss angeblich gut zu feiern, berichtete ihm ein Freund), ist enthusiastisch dabei, Fotos und Filme (schwarz-weiss, dokumentarisch) zu machen, ist Opa geworden und hat den Job gewechselt.

 Sergey has that idée fixe to immigrate to Ireland (there are already many Russians and they know how to party there a friend of his told him). He is enthusiastic about taking photos and making films (black&white, documentary), has become grandfather and got a new job.
               
  Deb Pastor, die Tourmanagerin?
Wurde zuletzt in Zentral-Arizona gesichtet
und hat die Haare kurz.		   Tourmanager Deb Pastor?
Was last seen in Central Arizona
and wears her hair short.
                             

Der Grenzpolizist José Cuellar hat, nachdem er den Film gesehen hat, spontan beschlossen, jedem Protagonisten ein T-Shirt der lokalen Footballmanschaft CALEXICO BULLDOGS zu schicken, ein Vorhaben, das durch einen Herzinfarkt zunächst vereitelt wurde. Es geht ihm aber langsam wieder besser.

     After having watched our film border officer José Cuellar decided spontaneously to send to each protagonist a t-shirt of his local football crew CALEXICO BULLDOGS. His plans were blocked because he got a heart attack but now he's recovering slowly.
                   
                         
Matthias Holst, der T-Shirt-Sammler, hat seit nunmehr vier Jahren eine nette Freundin, die seinen Musikgeschmack allerdings zunächst nicht teilte. Er missioniert aber unermüdlich weiter. Matthias Holst, the t-shirt collector, has a nice girlfriend now. She hasn't really shared his taste in music at the beginning … but he's keeping on crusading relentlessly.      
Rainer und Angelika Ossowski gehen in ihrer Opa- und Omarolle auf (Marie ist mittlerweile drei Jahre alt), sind aber nach wie vor dabei, zu Konzerten zu reisen. Und Wassertürme zu fotografieren.     Rainer und Angelika Ossowski get carried away with their Granny and Grandpa role (Marie is now three years old) but they are still busy traveling to concerts. And taking photos of water towers.
             
   

Wir bereiten unseren nächsten gemeinsamen Langfilm vor, der komplett auf Super 8 gedreht wird, Musik und Berlin im Zentrum hat und BANDS ON BOATS heissen wird. (www.bandsonboats.com)

We are preparing for our next long feature film that will be shot completely on Super 8. Music and Berlin will be in its center and it will be called BANDS ON BOATS. (www.bandsonboats.com)

  
     

Der Film CALEXICO NEXT EXIT ist fertig, darf aber nicht öffentlich aufgeführt werden, da wir die Musikrechte (noch) nicht haben.

The film CALEXICO NEXT EXIT is finished now but must not be shown in public since we don't have the music rights (yet).