Released as part of the Canon ‘Come and See’ image campaign, Berlin: Convergence is a portrait of the city by Nehemias Colindres.
Colindres is a 1st generation Salvadorian-American photographer and filmmaker. Born and raised in LA, he is currently living and working in Berlin and it is clear that he has a complex relationship with his adopted home. Explaining the film on the Canon Europe website he says:
I hate this city. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve uttered those words about the place I call home. But I’ve been here over three years because each time I say it, something draws me back in.
I didn’t know what that thing was, and that was the point of this film – because you can capture things through a lens that the naked eye can’t always see.
Berliners often put themselves through hell to be here because the potential outcome is one of beauty, creativity, excitement and freedom.
This is their story. Our story.
Shot over 24 hours, the film is a collection of vignettes that show the diversity of the city: a businessman, a hairdresser, a taxi driver, a dancer, a musician; going about their lives. They seem at first to be leading separate and very different lives but clever editing conveys the idea that their lives somehow intersect and it is this convergence that makes Berlin…well, so Berlin – a city that so many, myself included, have fallen in love with.
In Colindres’ own words:
This film captures what makes this place so special and reminds me of the power of film to present a slice of life. Berlin is a place of failure, it is a place of triumph and free will. Though harsh and relentless at times, in its heart is magic.
Regular readers may recognise the name Nehemias Colindres, as he has previously put his cinematic vision and poetic storytelling to excellent use on the unmissable Berlin, Berlin: Spring and Berlin, Berlin: Autumn.
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