COMING SOON
«Claws» (2025) – A hypnotic odyssey from the middle of nowhere to the heart of an urban civilization, where architecture and nature collide in eerie, deserted landscapes. Shot in China, this final part of a trilogy on human-made landscapes echoes dreams, greed, and the traces of human interventions in nature.
Claws, 2025, DCP 4K/2K/video installation, 5.1 surround, 38:07 min., ed. 5+1AP
The journey takes us from from remote expanses to the heart of an urban civilization. City canyons, bright as day, yet deserted. The protagonists are built structures, human-made objects. The promises of a smooth, idealized world fade at urban zone edges, where the sky expands again, and the steppe brings dust and sand back into civilization.
«Claws» is the final part of a trilogy on human-made landscapes. Shot in China, the film echoes human activity, curiosity, greed, dreams and traces of human interventions in nature.
Script, DOP, Editing: Aurèle Ferrier
Sound Design: Peter Bräker
Third Eyes Editing: Sandra Bühler, Eman Hussein
Colorgrading: Dominik Zietlow
VFX: Gregg Langlois
Production: Aurèle Ferrier
Support by:
Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia
Canton of St.Gallen, Arts Council / Swisslos
City of Zurich, Cultural Affairs, Covid Work Grant
Erna and Curt Burgauer Foundation
Foundation Anne-Marie Schindler
Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundattion
Gwärtler Foundation
Else v. Sick Foundation
Transitions, 2017, DCP 2K/video projection, 5.1 surround (no dialogues), 13 min., ed. 5 +1AP
«Transitions» is a journey from the civilizing void of the desert to a maximal urban, capitalistic and hedonistic density, which in the case of Las Vegas assumes some bizarre expression. The film is a contemplation without any people or moving machines in it, focussing on the built and designed.
«The work Transitions (2017) by Aurèle Ferrier examines the traces left by human civilisation - the conquest of the unwelcoming hostility of the desert ends in the surreal and hedonistic consumerism of Las Vegas. The camera leads us, with a menacing langour, through a backdrop of deserted city-outskirts. The buildings, cars and billboards speak of people’s dreams as they strive for a version happiness. The prevailingly eerie, apocalyptic mood draws you along on this filmic journey. These traces of humanity seem increasingly laughable and helpless, they vibrate with a peculiar melancholy. Where have the people disappeared to? One has the impression a catastrophe has occurred, an epidemic, or maybe it is simply an empty film set after a shoot?
The film with its calm and assured grasp on image and sound is able to produce a refined suspense. The film takes the viewer on an odyssey, one that could also be a metaphor for the boundaries of human endeavor. The human culture and civilisation that emerged from the desert, will in the end be desert again.»
Laudation by Esther Eppstein & Elodie Pong, Winner Videoex 2017
Credits
A film by Aurèle Ferrier — sound design and foley artist: Peter Bräker — editing consultants: Sandra Bühler, Andreas Müller — third eyes: Anna Hilti, Thomas Galler — post production: Gregg Langlois, Noé Marti — poster design: Krispin Hée — support: Kulturförderung Kanton St.Gallen (fine arts commission / film commission), Volkart Stiftung, Ernst & Olga Gubler-Hablützel Stiftung
Infrastructures, 2014, DCP/video projection, 5.1 surround (no dialogues), 23 min., ed. 5+1AP
«Infrastructures» involves a journey through a landscape of infrastructures that are common to an everyday reality of routine. Yet here we find these environments are deserted. This allows attention to focus instead on the design and spatial arrangements of the objects, we find the features of these landscapes – which would not usually bear noticing – become centrally present.
The film involves a series of seven tracking shots. A steady flow of objects in various contrived arrangements passes by the eye. The sound design incorporates the subtle noises given off by these ready-to-use sites devoid of users. Produced in Dolby Surround, the soundtrack both evokes the physical experience of the location and creates a dialogue with these structured spaces and the arrangement and design of the objects therein.
«A pensive and serene vision that challenges the audience to consider and reevaluate not just the structure of film,
but also the world in which we live.»
Jury Statement 2016 Slamdance Film Festival — Grand Jury Award
Credits
A film by Aurèle Ferrier — Sound design and foley artist: Peter Bräker — Steadicam shots: Bergsteinn Björgulfsson — Image post-production: Noë Marti — On-site assitance: Anna Hilti, Esther Mathis, Stephanie Hess, Andreas Mueller, Katherine Patino Miranda, Ari Björn Ólafsson, Sigurður Þórarinsson, Ida Emilie Sabro Jensen, Sandra Lang, Bettina Diel, Christoph Oeschger Sarah Kaur, Dalia Huerto Cano, Lixin Bao, James Meyhew, Verena Faisst — Mentoring: Alex Arteaga, Laura Arici, Jörg Huber, Ulrich Görlich — Third eyes: Anna Hilti, Esther Mathis, Andreas Mueller, Robert Steinberger — Support by: Kulturförderung Kanton St.Gallen, Georg und Josi Guggenheim Stiftung, Erna und Curt Burgauer Stiftung, Georges und Jenny Bloch Stiftung, Mediendienst Kath. Kirche Zürich, Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Steo Stiftung
NEWS
«Claws», 38 min., expected completion in March 2025
«Birds» (working title), 30 min., expected completion date in January 2027
