Hölderlin's echo

A work of art about an artist of the German language - and a meticulous cinematic memorial to the poet and philosopher Friedrich Hölderlin, famous all over the world.

Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843) touched numerous renowned composers with his word art over the course of time. In the 20th century, his work was arranged musically over 1,800 times. In their experimental documentary film with five individual animation sequences, Susanne Marschall and Hannes Rall approach the work of a lyricist who far outgrew his work during his lifetime and is known throughout the world like an echo of the German language. Thanks to their multi-layered approach, the filmmakers enable a nuanced approach to the poetry of Hölderlin, who is presented in text, animation and music on the film plane. Beyond the poet, the complexity of the German language can truly be experienced in the film, especially when a Japanese vocal icon like Mitsuko Shirai, a renowned professor at the Karlsruhe University of Music, presents the diversity of Hölderlin's language in minute detail. Also outstanding are the film's completely different animation sequences, which almost poetically allow Hölderlin's texts and song interpretations to take shape and open up further levels of meaning.