On view 1 – 30 November 2019
„Gottfried Richter plays a man in his 70s who lives in a suburb of Dresden and rehearses a speech. It is a personal message to Vladimir Putin, in Russian. He goes through this speech again inwardly, practicing in front of the mirror for 17 minutes. And at the same time he irons his shirt, washes and shaves himself. While editing I noticed that this figure fatally reminds me of a suicide bomber who gets ready. In the end, he sits down at his computer to record his video, a great moment for him. And not free of a certain comedy." (Sven Johne)
"Dear Vladimir Putin" was written by Sven Johne
(with Sergej Gladkich) and directed by Sven Johne.
actor / narrator: Gottfried Richter
copyediting: Falk Haberkorn
translation into English: Dawn Michelle d'Atri
camera / lighting: Steve Kfoury
camera assistant / sound: Jörn Ihmels
studio recording: Martin Freitag
color grading: Juan Pablo Brockhaus
edit / sound mixing / subtitling: Sven Voß
Sven Johne, *1976 in Bergen (Rügen island), GDR, lives and works in Berlin. 1998-2004 studied photography under Timm Rautert at the HGB Leipzig (Academy of Visual Arts), Diploma, 2006 master student of Timm Rautert, 2008 International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP), New York, 2010 visiting professor, Academy of Visual Arts (HGB), Leipzig.