Reiner Holzemer: Listening as a Cinematic Approach

For decades, the German documentary film director has approached artists with a rare attitude: he is patient, respectful and genuinely interested in the people behind the work. His films are the result of closeness and trust, of conversation rather than staging. Holzemer is not looking for quick answers – he is on a quest for truth. The result is portraits that stay with you because they leave room for doubt, silence and depth. His work invites you to take a closer look and devote time to what really matters.

The German documentary film director has been portraying internationally renowned artists for over four decades, always displaying great restraint and a honed sense of nuance. His films Dries and Martin Margiela: In His Own Words have been shown worldwide, sold in over 64 countries, and celebrated by critics and audiences alike. The Hollywood Reporter declared his 2020 film about Margiela to be the best fashion documentary of the decade.

Holzemer’s strength lies in his ability to listen. Rather than pushing himself to the foreground, he creates spaces in which his protagonists can open up. This approach characterises his films, making deep listening and attentive viewing something you can truly experience.

The connection to the Leica Cine 1 is clear. After all, a film deserves projection that does the image justice. The Leica Cine 1 brings the cinema experience into your home, delivering the same image depth, precision and emotional impact as a documentary film itself embodies.

In this way, film and the Cine 1 become one: telling great stories and enabling these to be experienced in all their intensity.

In the interview that follows, director Reiner Holzemer explains how he thinks about images, why he sees projection as such an important part of the cinematic experience and the role that the Leica Cine 1 plays in this.

Leica: Do you remember the moment when you realised that you wanted to make films? What particularly fascinated you about film back then?
Reiner Holzemer: When I was a child, I had a friend whose aunt worked at the cinema box office. This meant that we could always go to the cinema for free and watch films over and over. I loved it so much that I knew I wanted to make films one day by the age of 10.  At that time, I was fascinated by the idea of the cinema as a dream world.

Leica: What still excites you most today about telling stories using images, light and sound?
Reiner Holzemer: What excites me most is the challenge of telling a story in such a way that the audience can immerse themselves completely in my film, forgetting the world around them in the process. As a documentary filmmaker, I gain unique access to worlds that viewers could never experience first-hand. My job is to share this exclusive insight with others. Images, light and sound are the perfect tools to achieve this.

Leica: Is there a magical moment in filmmaking – perhaps while shooting or editing – that captivates you every time?
Reiner Holzemer: Yes, absolutely. It’s the moment when my protagonists forget about my camera and the fact that I’m filming them and they’re suddenly back to being themselves.

Leica: Ultra-short-throw projectors enable immersive cinema experiences that can be enjoyed at home. What role do you see home cinema projectors playing in the future, especially in terms of immersion and the emotional intensity of experiencing film at home?
Reiner Holzemer: I believe that projectors will increasingly replace flat-screen televisions. People also want to enjoy immersive, emotionally impactful film experiences in their home cinema.  The new generation of projectors are compact and deliver high-quality images from a very short distance.

Leica: When watching your finished films on a laser projector, what feels (or felt) most fundamentally different – when it comes to composition, sense of space and overall atmosphere – compared with a conventional TV?
Reiner Holzemer: I was most impressed by the laser projector’s image quality. The picture was excellent, even without darkening the room. I could see all the details in the image without any light reflections on the screen. The picture looked premium, with outstanding contrast and superb image sharpness.

Leica: As a filmmaker whose work is intended to be seen on a big cinema screen, how would you compare the emotional impact of watching a film at the cinema with the viewing experience offered by the Cine 1 in a home setting?
Reiner Holzemer: I have to admit that I’m a huge cinema fan. There’s an enormous difference between going to see a film on a big cinema screen, together with hundreds of strangers who are sharing the same emotional experience, and watching it alone at home. However, if I miss a film at the cinema or want to watch a film I’ve already seen at the cinema again at home, to my mind, the Cine 1 is definitely the only device that comes close to recreating the cinema experience.