Arisha, the Bear, and the Stone Ring (1993)

“The bear leaves Berlin. It is fed up with its city. On the way two Russian ladies, Anna and her daughter Arisha, hire him as a driver. They are joined by a Santa Claus who despises Christmas and a Vietnamese family who are on their way to the sea. They sing a song together, The Weeping Song by Nick Cave. And they are out to find a stone ring that is buried on the beach. The film was commissioned by a Japanese car museum. There you could see the film with six smells (!), sitting on car seats that would tilt in corners and shake on cobble stone pavement. This small film saved a big one’s life: FARAWAY, SO CLOSE! could not have been finished for financial reasons if this opportunity to make a short film with the same team had not arisen. That is how we financed the last week of shooting FARAWAY, SO CLOSE!.”