W. H. Auden's poem Paysage Moralisé, written in 1934, is a poem that floats across time and landscape, expressing something of that search for home, for peace, for safety and for meaning which shapes our existence on this planet.

 

Berlin-based producer Phil Smith brings the poem into a contemporary light, interweaving Auden's lines with the voices of those who have chosen - for very different reasons - the German capital city as their home. The poem's images of shipwreck and sorrow reverberate with snapshots from the lives of a Syrian refugee (fleeing war) and a West-African refugee (fleeing poverty, seeking a better life), while we also hear the words of an American musician on a European tour, an Italian-German academic who spends some of her time in Berlin, and a German who moved to the city to escape small-town life. There is no presenter to introduce our protagonists; rather, they step out from the city crowd to offer fragments of their personal stories.

Part radio poem, part documentary ballad, part composed feature, A Very Different Time addresses the hopes and fears that surround movement and migration, timeless themes that resonate strongly in today’s Europe.

Producer and sound designer  Phil Smith

Producer  Alan Hall

Company  Falling Tree Productions

Translation  Leila Baksienė

Subtitles  Ignė Narbutaitė
Animation Emilija Juzeliūnaitė