Western Rampart

Western Rampart is a filmwork challenging our perception of borders and boundaries, whether natural or human-made. It is set in the area of Vestvolden ("Western Rampart" in Danish), southwest of Copenhagen, where a 14 km rampart complex was built between 1888 and 1892. Obsolete and unfinished since World War I, it was one of the last fortification systems of the city against foreign invasion and the largest construction project of its time in Denmark.

A combination of visual and narrative poetry, magic realism, and documentary, Western Rampart is a tale featuring a gigantic Amanita muscaria mushroom in discussion with the revived Western Rampart. Through their existential conversation, two perspectives are opposed: the rampart argues for the necessity of borders and walls, while the mushroom advocates for constant motion and circulation, claiming that everything must continuously transform to thrive.

Shifting between viewpoints, the imagery of the film alternates between ultra-slow motion, animated nature, and overhead shots depicting the vastness of the rampart construction. Western Rampart is accompanied by a sound design that underlines the conflicting positions of being inside and outside, convinced and confused, firm and fluid.

Credits:

A SUPERFLEX FILM

Director: SUPERFLEX
Producer: Patricia Drati
Camera: Sine Vadstrup Brooker, DFF
Drone operator: Jeppe Tang Jensen
Editor: Rikke Selin
Assistant editor: Copenhagen Brains
Original soundtrack: Black Institute
Sound design: Rasmus Winther Jensen
Colorgrading: Dicki Lakha
Script & screenplay: SUPERFLEX
Mushroom actor: Zeno Riz A Porta
Voice actors: Rasmus Hammerich as The Rampart, Charlotte Munck as The Mushroom
Mushroom costume: Anne Werner
Sound technician: Kristian Mondrup
Research and development: Angela Adeix, Cristina Casals Soler
Production assistant: Anne Kruckenberg

SUPERFLEX would like to thank
Maan Rental, Hvidovre Kommune

Commisioned by KØS. Developed with support by DFI. Produced with support from the Danish Arts Foundation.