ökoRAUSCH Partner Feature | Raute Film

Sustainable Films for Good Ideas 

We love filmmaking because, in the beginning, anything seems possible: ideas, desires and dreams know no bounds. But how do you make a tangible film out of an abstract idea? For us, it is essential to connect creativity with the craft. We see which possibilities an idea offers and which means and resources are available. A good idea on its own cannot make a film if it isn’t properly implemented, just as a technically brilliant film is worthless without a message. We see finding a good balance between these two aspects as a constant challenge.

What is sustainable film production?

Nature is the foundation of all of our lives. For our work, it is an important source of inspiration and regeneration, which is why we organise our work to be as sustainable as possible in order to protect nature and our environment. This means planning our projects as efficiently as possible and organising the production to be ecological and social. We use green energy in our office, an ethical bank and eco-friendly web hosting. Our content mostly focuses on topics related to sustainability. We see ourselves first and foremost as a service provider for companies and organisations. We produce image films, video portraits, documentaries and social media campaigns. But we also develop our own projects. Here is a list of a few of them.

Degrowth Conference in Leipzig

In September of 2014, the 4th International Degrowth Conference took place in Leipzig. Over a five day period, at the university and in places throughout the city people discussed, presented and lived by example what an ecologically and socially equitable society could look like in practice. At the time, we mainly documented the main conference events. Working on this issue greatly inspired us, influencing how we work up to today.

Here is the website for the Degrowth Conference.

The 17 sustainability goals for Cologne

A current project was the filming of 18 video clips about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) with the Allerweltshaus Köln e.V. and the Bündnis Kommunale Nachhaltigkeit Köln (Cologne Alliance for Communal Sustainability). This project presented what the SDGs are to begin with, and what they have to do with Cologne. Together with bureau gruen., it was our job to present the SDGs, the 17 global sustainability goals of the United Nations, in social media friendly video clips. The focus of the videos were three people who live in Cologne. Ivy, Jana and Luca presented the sustainability goals for the videos.

ökoRAUSCH and Raute Film

We were also at the ökoRAUSCH Festival 2017 to make three videos about the Festival for our project “transformathek”.

Clear and focussed. Always in motion.

So films can be more than just pure entertainment. They can both entertain and inform. They can change points of view and show viewers new perspectives. Most of all, they can move people, inspire them and motivate them to do new things. That is our aspiration in filmmaking. If you would like to see more, come check us out.

ökoRAUSCH Festival 2020 | Kick-off

Thomas Baumgärtel – der Bananensprayer

Der in Köln lebende Thomas Baumgärtel machte sich in der Kunstwelt unter dem Psyeudonym „der Bananensprayer“ einen Namen, indem er seit 1986 viele der besten Kunstorte weltweit mit der Spraybanane „vernetzt“ hat. Als inoffizielles Logo der Kunstszene ziert seine Banane ca. 4000 Kunstmuseen, Galerien, Kunstvereine und alternative Orte von Köln über New York, Basel, Berlin, London, Moskau, Wien und weitere. Doch damit nicht genug: die Palette seines künstlerischen Schaffens reicht von Gemälden, Zeichnungen, Drucken und Fotocollagen über subversiven Sprayaktionen bis hin zu Performances und Happenings. In seiner Arbeit setzt sich der freie Künstler, der auch Diplom-Psychologie studierte, dabei auch kritisch bis provokant mit verschiedenen gesellschaftlichen Themen auseinander. Im Interview erzählt er, welchen Bezug er zu Nachhaltigkeitsthemen hat, wo Nachhaltigkeit und Kunst zusammenkommen und was Nachhaltigkeit für ihn bedeutet.

Wir freuen uns, Thomas Baumgärtel als Aussteller beim ökoRAUSCH Festival 2020 präsentieren zu können!

Wer sich vorher schon etwas von ihm anschauen will, kann sich hier durchklicken:

ökoRAUSCH Festival 2020 | Winner in the category of “start-ups”

Fashion from Kibera to the world!

Have you ever heard of Kibera? Located to the south of downtown Nairobi, it is one of the largest informal settlements on the African continent. Starting up a fashion label there is…unbelievable! And David Avido (24), born and raised in Kibera, did just that. Today he is dressing world famous musicians and this year he began selling his fashion in Europe. His story inspires young people from his neighbourhood and people all over the world. lookslike avido proves that anything is possible if you are focused and have faith in your own strengths.

“It always bothered me that I was reduced to where I came from,” says Avido. He always hears people say that people from Kibera are poor, criminals and addicted to drugs. “Those are all real problems. But with my fashion I want to show people that there is much more to Kibera than just that. There is huge creative potential here! I want to inspire people and help my people feel proud of their neighbourhood.” Avido has spoken in front of thousands of youth in Kenia, and international reggae and dancehall artists are wearing lookslike avido pieces.

Cologne: A bridge to Europe

Avido visited Germany for the first time in July 2019. We had met prior to that in Nairobi. I was there on business and now organise European sales out of Cologne: Neonyt at the Berlin Fahion Week, Summerjam music festival, and a number of his own events were all a big success: We learned a lot, had a lot of people make orders with us, and we told Avido’s story. Even Wolfgang Joop took an interest in Avido and we are eagerly awaiting his call… It was a very exciting experience to speak to people about fashion from Kibera, it was the most direct form of feedback we could get. At the same, seeing the innovative approaches and technical possibilities of recycling and circular fashion made a lasting impression on us.

Social and ecological sustainability

The label lookslike avido produces its pieces in Kibera and joined the formal sector of its own accord, which is a big step for a company operating in a context in which most small and medium sized companies remain in the informal sector. A group of 10 seamstresses are always ready to produce pieces on an order basis for fair wages. There are currently six work stations in Avido’s Atelier. As the number of orders grows, employment positions will be created that are subject to social insurance. The biggest challenge is the issue of sourcing and localisation. Many of the local companies in East Africa that provide raw material for textiles are not large enough to guarantee consistent quality of their material. Others already have fixed business partners. Furthermore, there is rarely information about the origin or production standards of the material available at the markets. The label is currently negotiating with a number of local producers in East Africa, as well as exploring how upcycling elements could be integrated into some of the products. The upcoming collection already has the first of such pieces. During the trip to Germany, the label came up with even more ideas for new and more sustainable designs.

We are excited to see what the next year will bring and we look forward to the opportunity to present lookslike avido at the ökoRAUSCH Festival in the summer of 2020!

Photographer: Eric Greven