Sharon Paz

| Video Installation, 2017 || Multi channel HD, 19:35 minutes |

The work is based on a short story from Isolde Kurz, it was published in 1907 referring to World War I. A young woman, who is the storyteller, is visiting her hometown on Memorial Day. In the cemetery she meet a small lady who lost her son in the war, the son name does not appear on the memorial stone. A veteran comfort the mother, later as the mother leave, he tells the real story of the son tragic death. The mother does not know the truth about her son way of dying and why he is not mention on the gravestone. The secret is a heavy load on the veteran. In between secrets and white lie, the veteran protects the mother from the painful truth. The video was shot in Waldfriedhof, Halbe, Germany at the military cemetery and contains documentary footage from a burial ceremony of 71 unknown solders from World War II, that were found in the area. The Battle of Halbe was the final bottle to end the war between the red Army and the German Ninth Army coming from Berlin. The casualties on both sides were extremely high. There are more then 25,000 Germans buried in the cemetery at Halbe, making it the largest war cemetery in Germany from World War II. Many thousands more are still lying in the Brandenburg forests area around the cemetery. Based on a real person, the film depict an extra character - the “umbetter”, he is looking for the dead soldieries like a detective, digging for the rest and pieces of history, working with a metal detector he looks for any traces and bring the soldiers rest to burial. The work touches a grey zone, the heroism of those soldiers is questionable and so is their right to be given the memory space. Still, 'The dead have the right to rest in peace' the “umbetter” claims.

SLEEP deals with lost and memorable, war and heroism. The images of solders and heroes are presented in the film with different shades.