Several people gather in a snow-covered landscape. They share a love of winter, ice and cold. Filmed without dialogue, Null Grad is an affectionate observation of an exceptional event, of passionate swimmers who, in the deepest mid-winter at temperatures well below zero, take a dip in an ice hole. Herself a "water rat" and swimming enthusiast, but here a non-participant, Claudia Lorenz takes three minutes to film the unspectacular tranquillity of this unusual bathing ritual ? as much time, in fact, at the bathers spend in the ice-cold water.
CLAUDIA LORENZ was born 1975 in Switzerland but grew up partly in Argentina. She studied photography and film at the "School of Art and Design" in Zurich. Her graduation film Hoi Maya has won her many prizes, including the "Panorama Audience Prize" and the "UIP Award" at the Berlinale 2005.