Roman Diary

　　Pilz's description of his film doesn’t even mention Rome or the hill of Gianicolo, which overlooks the Trastevere district. The film should provide a meditative view of yourself, he states. Nevertheless it is a portrai...展开t of Rome and its recent history told using sculptures in a park.
　　In a long, slow, silent procession, they pass by the viewer: the stone-hewn witnesses of a battle that took place more than a century and a half ago in Rome. In 1849 the city, where the advocates of the democratic republic had entrenched themselves, was besieged by French troops who wanted to restore the Papal States. Led by the legendary Giuseppe Garibaldi, the freedom fighters resisted for a long time.
　　Film artist Michael Pilz shows the silent and tranquil remains in a Roman park, with music and sounds from the present in the background. Life around the statues goes in slow motion, but occasionally the noisy, warm, bubbling ‘present’ breaks through: people relaxing outside a restaurant, the remains of a meal. In between we see pictures of the city on which the heroes of yore looked out: a city filled with life in hard-fought freedom.
　　Programmer Note by Gertjan Zuilhof:
　　It might sound like a platitude, but the best way to understand the type of filmmaker Michael Pilz is, is to watch one of his films. Like Indian Diary - Days at Sree-Sankara for example. In 2001, this film was screened at the IFFR and it can now be watched online: http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/1674/Indian-Diary--Days-at-Sree-Sankara.
　　Pilz is an observer. He has patience. For him, filming is basically meditation and this demands a similar attitude from the viewer. Not that he wants to test his viewers at all. His calm is more a gift to the latter. He allows them to enjoy moments of peace and quiet and this is also how Indian Diary opens. It seems as if we have risen with him and are now watching a world which is still asleep. That doesn’t stay that way. He also has an eye for how hectic life in Indian society is, but keeps returning to moments of reflection.
　　In comparison with Indian Diary, Roman Diary is a much busier film. Rome is also a different type of world, with a different type of history. Pilz meditates at the historic monuments thereby making history without words. Pilz is a watcher. Watch with him.