Achterhaven Splinters – a film by Fowler, Vernon & Burns (UK, 2007)
Achterhaven Splinters is a fragmented portrait of Achterhaven, a working class suburb of Rotterdam. Shot over the course of 24 hours, a series of fleeting moments of everyday life are scrutinised and exploded in the process of hand printing. The documentary sequences begin to take on new meanings when subjected to the physical manipulation of light, chemistry and material. Strategies that allowed chance elements and fortuitous accidents were brought into play and combined with a distinct approach to filmmaking which eschews both documentary and materialist film histories. The soundtrack was recorded whilst on location and then composed to the images. The dynamic texture of the soundtrack mirrors the images in its fluctuation between reality and abstraction.
Achterhaven Splinters is a collaboration between Barry Burns, Luke Fowler and Mark Vernon shot on 16mm film. It was produced at WORM’s Filmwerkplaats in September 2007 during a short residency. The film was first screened at the Gilmorehill Cinema, Glasgow, 2008 in a programme curated by Magic Lantern.