100 Years of Bauhaus Ohne Farbe geht nichts!

Known for his flamboyant character, the painter Johannes Itten played an integral role in the establishment of the early Bauhaus. In a film produced before the eyes and ears of a live audience, the director Katrin Rothe sets out to examine the life of the Bauhaus instructor as well as her own years at university, during which she became acquainted with Itten's colour theory in different ways. Katrin Rothe pages back and forth through Itten's scintillating biography, creating a musical-fanciful series of images depicting the turbulent times of the early Bauhaus. Wondrous colours, forms and figures jump from the drawing board and from Rothe's own sketchpads and notes onto the movie screen in a live performance where various encounters take shape.

The young, barely 30-year-old Itten meets his older self who looks back at his time in Weimar, the abstract forms of geometry and white architecture meet a sea of rhythmically flowing colours, and the free, easy-going exercises of the Bauhaus instructor encounter the older Itten's intense interest in Asian lifestyles and philosophies. The result is a Bauhaus awash in colour, or as Itten himself once wrote: Nothing works without colour.

Concept, Direction & Live-Animation: Katrin Rothe
Dramaturgy: Janek Müller
Narration: Olaf Helbing
Music: Thomas Mävers, Olaf Helbing
Live-Illustration: Lydia Günther
Artistic Assistant: Knut Rothe
Production: Kunstfest Weimar