A GLANCE INTO HUMAN CONNECTION
“Filmmaking is a quite demanding lifestyle and it needs dedication, persistence and soul but the more you pour into, the more you get back from every single moment”, indeed it is true. Quoting Cedric Schanze, director of photography and filmmaker based in Berlin. He has always pursued a career as a cinematographer since he was attending the school. If you have a quick look to Schanze’s work you soon see the demanding lifestyle he talks about and why it needs dedication and persistence. Schanze work seems adventurous, sporty, and thrilling, as he worked for famous brands like Adidas, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Porsche and so on, he works in beautiful and unconventional places that is what it makes his work so intriguing for us. Up in the mountains, into water with a mask and a scuba tank, in the waterfall in the North of Iceland, his work is both physical and artistic challenge and it gives us the right extreme sporting lifestyle inspiration.
I had a chat with Cedric Schanze, and I discovered that despite the sporty and daring lifestyle he shows us, there is a reason that goes beyond the thrill of practicing and filming extreme sports, something that doesn’t belong to money, because as he said money isn’t the driving force. According to him the moment of creation has something to deal with the human soul. Every artistic experience is also a social experience and it is right this one that make it last forever. Schanze, actually reveals he is not into extreme sports, but sharing those adventures make him feel connected to himself and to people around him. From this kind of connection with others the creation process takes place. The need of filmmaking and photography it is not a merely egoistic need, on the contrary is people that give to it a meaning and a reason to do it in a first place, meeting new people and learning to appreciate every single moment is crucial to discover his personal Why. “Life is so transient”, he stated while talking about the project Steps for Children, a project that shaped his perspective of life and what actually matters to him. These short films directed, shot and edited by Schanze give an insight into the work at steps for children an organization driven by the passion to help Namibian children and families in need. Throughout the past decade, steps has worked to turn around the lives of children coming from especially dire backgrounds. I want to conclude using the words of Cedric Schanze:
“FIND YOUR WHY, POUR YOUR SOUL INTO YOUR CRAFT AND ENJOY THE PROCESS ITSELF. TO ME, MONEY WAS NEVER THE DRIVING FORCE”.
All images © Cedric Schanze
Written by Anna Trifirò
