Das Resort (2022)

Single channel video and sound – 22 min
Best International Short Film – Berlin Shorts, Seattle Film Festival
Best Experimental Short Film – Montreal Independent Film Festival, Independent Shorts Awards
Best Short Film – Amsterdam Lift-off Festival, Phoenix Shorts

During the first lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, I was able to experience my hometown and the surrounding alpine landscapes without people or activity. Usually dominated by the hustle and bustle of ski tourism, it was a wonderful yet eerie sight that had a deep impact on me. During that unprecedented time, I decided to make a short film that contrasted one of these empty ski resorts with the untouched surrounding nature and wrap it in a very human story.

“I’m dreaming again. It’s what I’ve done for the last forty years.”

An unnamed narrator in a small, undisclosed mountain village examines his life from three different points in time; his childhood, his adult life, and his old days. As he jumps back and forth, in and out of time, nonlinear memories surrounding his long-lost father and the events that took place in a virus-ridden, dystopian world begin to take shape. The exhaustive and introspective search eventually leads him back to a place of fond childhood memories, a cabin found in perfect peace where he can dream again.”

—Mathias Kessler, 2022

© 2022 Mathias Kessler