Spaceships, miniature worlds and life-sized Star Wars heroes: fans all over the world have loaned out their own hand-made works for a Star Wars exhibition. “The Fans Strike Back” was a guest in Frankfurt until March.
From the most famous spaceship in the Star Wars saga, the Millennium Falcon, to the so-called Podracer – the space plane with which Anakin Skywalker flies his race. In the new exhibition in Frankfurt, “The Fans Strike Back,” visitors will encounter Star Wars elements from more than a dozen films – built by fans around the world.
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03:29 mins||Lilli Janik
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The pilot capsule of Anakin Skywalker's “Podracer” contains computer hard drives and parts from cars from the 1980s and 90s. A car mechanic from London built the eleven-meter-long racing aircraft. Repurposed vacuum cleaner hoses connect the cockpit to two engines.
The global traveling exhibition has been in Frankfurt since Friday; the fan exhibition previously stopped in Las Vegas, New York, London, Vienna and Berlin. The Disney company, which owns the rights to the Star Wars universe, is not involved.
The pilot capsule of Anakin Skywalker's so-called Podracer has been recreated in its original size.
Image © Lara Karbalaie (hr)
Fans are always offering new works
The creators of the exhibits live in France, England and the USA, among other places, and have made their works available to the exhibition free of charge. Around 1,000 works were brought together, says exhibition director Mirko Kusserow, who works for the company that organizes the traveling exhibition in Germany.
He explains that fans from the exhibition locations are always offering new objects. In Frankfurt, fans from Germany can take a closer look at it for the second and last time. The fan exhibition will move on in mid-March – where is still open.
From trash to exhibit
There is a lot to discover, especially when it comes to the materials: Some developers had been collecting rubbish for years, painting it and then attaching it together with hot glue, says Kusserow. They had repurposed what was lying around the house, including tomato paste lids, burger molds, cookie wrappers and cleaning buckets.
“The fans have put their heart and soul into this for years and are now very proud of their creations – they can be that too,” emphasizes exhibition manager Kusserow, who is wearing a sweater that matches the “R2-D2” exhibit.
Exhibition manager Mirko Kusserow with an “R2-D2”.
Image © Lara Karbalaie (hr)
The exhibition thrives on details
The special thing about the fan exhibition is in the details: If you pay attention to this, then a visit will be fun for more than just hardcore fans. The developers have been fine-tuning their work for years. One of them is Lars Böhl from Kassel-Niederzwehren. He worked on his two-hour amateur film for 16 years.
His self-produced film trailer can be seen in the exhibition. Passion and around 20,000 euros went into his fan film “Descendants of Order 66”. Böhl had probably followed the advice that the old Jedi Master Yoda told his protégé Luke Skywalker when he was training him to become a Jedi Knight: “Do it or don’t do it. There is no attempt”.
See the trailer for the fan film
For the film, he even traveled with his friends to the same locations as in the original. There they got into situations that also happened to the Lucasfilm crew, as Böhl explains.
For example, they were caught in a sandstorm in Tunisia, spent the night in the desert, got lost in the jungles of Malaysia and were rescued from a snowstorm. “It also brings you a little closer to your idols.”
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01:45 mins||hessenschau
Star Wars film from Northern Hesse
Image © hessenschau.de
Not for beginners…
“Much you know, Obi-Wan Kenobi. “A lot you have learned,” said Master Yoda in “Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,” when he realized how much knowledge his apprentice Obi-Wan now has. Visitors to the exhibition also need prior knowledge: for example, to understand the few explanatory panels that classify the exhibition objects into episodes and film scenes.
Who the fans are behind the detailed imitations is not explained for every exhibit. However, many questions arise about this during the tour. The entrance fee for the non-professionally curated exhibition is a galactic 25 euros on weekends and 22.50 euros on weekdays. Admission is free for children under six years of age.
A replica of “Boba Fett”, a bounty hunter in the Star Wars universe.
Image © Lara Karbalaie (hr)
… but “not from industrial professionals”
Anyone who is a Star Wars fan and is not interested in the origin stories of the creators will be thrilled by “The Fans Strike Back”. Lars Böhl from Kassel, who has already visited the exhibition in Berlin, says: “You have to keep in mind that people put this together themselves in their basement, it wasn’t made by some industrial professional.”
