Synopsis
"The series of portrait films that the
Heins made between 1970-73 attest to their deepening interest in the movement generated solely through cinematic processes of reproduction. Over this three year period, they worked intermittently on five individual short portrait films based on images of serial killer
Charles Manson, British criminal
Ronald Biggs, German artist
Kurt Schwitters, their daughter Nina, and Wilhelm Hein. The portrait of Hein is the only one in the series based on a real-time recording; all others were taken from still photos from newspaper articles (Manson, Biggs) and historical and family photos (Schwitters,
Nina Hein).
Porträts (1970) is a collection of three of these films – Manson, Biggs and Wilhelm Hein – that each underwent distinct processes of development so as to highlight differenct perceptual and aesthetic effects." –
Marc Siegel,
Reproducing W+B Hein's Material Films
