Jan Hellwich’s blue movie

This lyrical, sensual short film, written and directed by Jan Hellwich through Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, explores the creation of French artist Yves Klein’s ultramarine paint. 

Klein worked with blue extensively in his career, then in 1958 he created a series of monochrome paintings – and even performance art pieces – using a particular shade that he'd developed in collaboration with Parisian art supplier Edouard Adam. Previously, pigment binders had dulled the colour upon drying but with Adam’s help, in 1960 Klein was able to patent a blue that retains its glowing hue.

Simmering with lush sounds from Bruit Agency and slinky summery cinematography from Louis Lustermann, Hellwich’s languid film plays out against quotes from Klein’s diary that convey his obsession with blueness, “The colour of the sea and sky evokes distance; longing; infinity… I signed my name on the back of the sky.”

The film, which was shot on 35mm last summer on the Mediterranean coast, has already picked up two Silver awards at this year's YDA.