Colours as bright as nature
A film series about the almost forgotten craft of natural dyeing.
Nature's colour pot
The first film takes us to western Türkiye. There, as part of the DOBAG project, natural dyeing was revived in several remote villages. The biologist and chemist Dr Harald Böhmer, who lived in Istanbul, was so taken with the luminosity of the colours of old Anatolian carpets that he researched in the villages how people used to dye there. Synthetic dyes had long since displaced natural colours here too. But some of the women still remembered. Harald Böhmer gathered the old knowledge, searched the region for the dye plants and tried out the orally handed-down recipes. He then gave the knowledge won back this way to the local people in dyeing courses.
From the sheep's wool dyed in the old tradition, the women knot carpets that find admirers worldwide and fetch good prices. The DOBAG project became a model for other initiatives – beyond Türkiye as well. The film impressively brings to life the fascination that natural colours hold.
Colour Rush
The second film takes us to Dieter Kaiser's workshop in southern Germany. He has been working there with natural dyes for more than 40 years, helping to keep the traditional craft alive. He too researched and experimented for a long time. Today he rightly calls himself a master dyer. With his knowledge and experience he produces a finely nuanced palette of colours that is second to none. Viewers can see for themselves and look over the master's shoulder as he works.
Interest in natural colours has returned in Germany too – as has curiosity about the knowledge and the stories that come with them. Watching Dieter Kaiser, you quickly understand why natural dyeing takes so much effort. With him, everything is done by hand. He does not merely preserve the old techniques – he develops and refines them. For him, natural dyeing is far more than a craft: it is a sustainable and ecological way of bringing colour into our lives.
You can stream the films right here on the website.
Both films can be seen on the DVD ‘Farben so bunt wie die Natur’.
You can order the DVD directly from us here.
For public screenings we hire out professional DCP and Blu-ray.
Enquiries to order@bt-medienproduktion.de
More about the film project on the external project site