Flip-books are like pocket movies. Small notebooks which, once flipped through, give a semblance of movement. Popular in 18th century Germany, they first appeared sometime between the invention of photography and the first public cinemas. Volker Gerling makes his flip-books from black and white photographs. A seasoned film-maker and photographer, he travels throughout Germany on foot. He finances his adventures only by presenting his work to the people he meets, who may in exchange offer him room, board and a small fee and maybe will even let him photograph them. On stage, Volker Gerling exhibits his flip-books in front of a camera. The moving image is projected onto a large screen. With humor and subtlety, he relates the touching encounters, their context, some anecdotes. For example an old man speaking of his deceased wife, offering bread and butter without any interest for the animations, just happy to chat. Volker Gerling is this talented narrator, this modest and solitary wanderer who presents a kind of experimental cinema, simple and spellbinding.

With the support of the Defa-Stiftung and Le Bon Image.