That feeling of “freedom” comes from the fact no one knows you in the country you moved in + excitement for new things to discover. It’s pretty common
1 year ago | 0
Van, I’m a big fan of your work! I’m currently living in Berlin, if you need someone to capture current-day footage, feel free to reach out - I’d be eager to help :)
1 year ago (edited) | 0
Sounds like possibly your most interesting video so far. Unfortunately I will never get to see it behind a paywall.
1 year ago | 0
How to summarize Berlin, Germany: imagine a gutter punk walking with a business man; they seem to be old friends and are engaged in a good conversation. That is how I describe Berlin.. because that is what I experienced there. Also, their döner Kabobs are the slam. That’s how I envisioned creating a bar called Berlin in Vegas. For reasons I cannot fully explain, I was exiled from the business I created.. for standing up for the staff to have a healthy work environment. That is not the Berlin I tried to create.
1 year ago | 0
Not really uncommon. People will move to dystopic authoritarian countries such as germany and gaslight themselves to make them feel better about their mistake.
1 year ago | 0
Van Neistat
In 2003 I lived in Berlin as part of Tom Sachs’ “Nutty’s” installation at the Deutsche Guggenheim. Through friends, I met a bunch of Americans who were living in Berlin at the time. I began filming interviews with them on September 11, 2003.
Before putting this project together I had not watched these interviews, and I don't really remember conducting the interviews. 20 years later, in reviewing them for this project, l am struck by the subjects' courage in moving to a foreign country and alarmed by their common proclamations of feeling more "free" in Berlin than they did in the United States.
I too remember this sense of freedom I felt when I lived in Berlin in 2003. A sense of freedom and camaraderie.
I find it difficult to articulate the difference between what it was like to live as an adult in pre-911 America vs. what it's been like to live in post-911 America. I find little clues as I listen to the stories told by these American expatriates.
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1 year ago | [YT] | 572