Most Interesting Person

Who is the most interesting person you know? Stuart Holt, British photographer, has been traveling to some of the world's metropolitan cities, asking this question. 

Each person he films sends him to somebody he or she finds most interesting, who then becomes the next stop on Holt's filmic journey. This domino reaction continues till, finally, Holt has created what he calls a trail -- a linked sequence of short films, featuring ordinary people who talk about their passions, convictions and personal heroes. Each "most interesting person" also chooses the location for the conversation. Long Trail Film Making, says Holt, is a great way to get "behind the skin" of a throbbing metropolis.

Stuart Holt started the project in London, continuing on to New York, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and Tel Aviv. For the past year he has been in Berlin, and recently, he presented his series of short films in the Ballhaus Ost. The Berlin trails -- four in all -- are fascinating portraits of the people behind the creative energy of this city. Berlin's Trail Four, for instance, begins with Jetta Miller, film producer and director, who talks to Holt in her apartment in Berlin Mitte.

From Jetta Miller, the trail moves on to Rebecca Bach, video and performance artist. Bach chooses the Plänterwald as the environment in which to talk about her video project, "Wo sind Sie überhaupt?", an exploration of Berlin on foot along a single axis that cuts through the city. Bach's personal hero is Thorsten Schmitz, journalist for the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Schmitz talks quietly about reporting in conflict zones while he walks through the Pfaueninsel, a natural surrounding which, in his words, allows you to listen to silence and simply "be."



Schmitz's most interesting person is Edda Kruse Rosset, student, who talks to us from the place that is most significant for her: the "magic rooftops" above her house in Kreuzberg, one of the empty buildings that were occupied by squatters in the 1980s. Rosset points us to Beanne da Costa, also a student. Eighteen-year-old da Costa takes us through the park in Friedrichshain, and in the sun-dappled light slanting through trees, she shares with us her conviction of the power of music. In this delightful clip, she sings, narrates and dissolves into peals of laughter whenever she cannot take herself too seriously.



I asked Holt if the Berlin sequence was different from the others. Very much so, said Holt. The most interesting persons in London or Los Angeles, for instance, tended to be those who could further the careers of others.  The choices of Berliners were more honest, varied and unpredictable. This city is a cultural ground zero, said Holt, which makes the Berlin stories that much richer.

Holt's sequences of three-minute-long portraits are spot on: a snapshot of Berlin 2010. Take a look at this "under the skin" perspective of the city on the Most Interesting Person website. And keep an eye open just in case this talented photographer/filmmaker happens to be following a trail in your city!