INCESSANT VISIONS
After 7 years of work, the movie Incessant Visions is complete. It is an intimate biography and a portrait of an era, based on letters and memoirs of one of the greatest modern architects Erich Mendelsohn.
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Duki Dror is a documentary filmmaker who embraces his subjects with a keen eye and curious intellect. In this creative homage, Dror illuminates the life of German Jewish Expessionist architect Erich Mendelsohn. The visionary Mendelsohn, a contemporary of Walter Gropius and influenced by artists such as Franz Marc and the Blue Rider group, produced work embodying a kind of organic dynamism. His story unfolds through letters exchanged with his wife, Louise, an accomplished cellist. Dror gently breathes life into the correspondence of two passionate artists who helped each other weather a turbulent time in history. Mendelsohn’s career followed the jagged trajectory of many German Jewish émigrés fleeing Nazism; he worked in England, Israel and, finally, the Bay Area, where he taught at UC Berkeley. Mendelsohn’s drawings pulsate with energy and his buildings are stunning. Among his accomplishments, he designed the Einstein Tower, Schocken department stores and the Universum Cinema in Germany; the Mt. Scopus Campus of Hadassah Hospital and the Weitzman House in Israel; and private homes and a hospital in the Bay Area. Dror deftly juxtaposes the architect’s original designs with contemporary images, weaving in reflections from Mendelsohn’s granddaughter, other architects and the people who use these unique structures today—a testament to the integrity and timelessness of visionary design.