Pascal Klewer: „there is no such thing as altruism“

Ein Versuch einer ehrlichen Reflexion - ein Film von Pascal Klewer

Dependence and demarcation, one's own position in a system that is open, but often structurally does not allow anything.

The feeling of constantly having to represent something, even if you no longer know whether you are anything at all.

Trumpets break, bodies freeze.
Monologues revolve around themselves, repeat themselves, shift.
It is not an answer, not a statement, not a solution.
Rather an exploration of empty spaces.

Of stagnation, of anger, of questions like:
Who actually benefits from what?
And: how much of it is me?

A montage of documentary material, staged body images and urban spaces through the filter of depression.

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Pascal Klewer (born 1997) is a musician/composer and lives in Cologne.
He has worked with/directed the WDR Bigband, the Pascal Klewer Bigband, numerous productions for Deutschlandfunk, organizes concert series and festivals (Pascal Klewer Bigband meets, Monday Meetings, 222 Festivals), runs his own label for contemporary music (stssts records), is the winner of the New German Jazz Prize for Composition, the Composition Prize of the Federal Jazz Orchestra and various composition prizes from the state of Hesse.

As a soloist and sideman, he has played at the Handel Festival, among others, is part of award-winning ensembles such as the Aurora Octet (Nom. German Jazz Award 2025, Leipzig Jazz Young Talent Award 2023), Fallen Crooner (Kathrin Prize 2023) and various ensembles of Simon Nabatov and composes/produces film music for "die Story" in the first ((Blackbox Belarus 2025, Moldova 2023, Belarus 2022).

He is a scholarship holder of the Federal Government (Tarabya), the Kunststiftung NRW (Galata) and the Bartels Foundation.

He has been a lecturer for jazz trumpet, composition and arrangement at the HMTM Hannover since winter semester 24.

Credits:
Filmed by Florian Fries & Nathan Pramudiya Ishar
Production assistance: Josefine Simons
Light & color grading: Jakob Gehrmann
Recording & sound: Lukas Fehling
Music by: Pascal Klewer Bigband feat. Kathrin Pechlof
Asger Nissen, Victor Fox, Florian Fries, Kira Linn, Fabian Dudek - saxes
Gregor Sperzel, Ebba Asman, Erik Konertz, Tobias Herzog - trombones
Gabriel Rosenbach, Arvid Maier - trumpets
Anthony Greminger (drums), Kathrin Pechlof (harp), Felix Hauptmann (piano), Lucy Liebe (git), Roger Kintopf (bs), Felix Henkelhausen (bs), Lina Knörr (voc)

supported by Land NRW, Kunststiftung NRW & Culture Moves Europe

german with english subtitles
german with english subtitles