Directed by:
Bettina BöhlerScreenplay:
Bettina BöhlerComposer:
Helge SchneiderCast:
Christoph Schlingensief (a.f.), Tilda Swinton, Udo Kier, Sophie Rois, Margit Carstensen, Irm Hermann, Alfred Edel, Bernhard Schütz, Helge Schneider (more)Plots(1)
What a joy it is to listen to and watch Christoph Schlingensief once more! His razor-sharp mind, mischievous irony and the political clarity with which he talks about himself, his art and his films in Bettina Böhler’s documentary make us keenly feel the loss of this exceptional artist. But at the same time, here he is, brought back to life on the big screen. In 2020, Christoph Schlingensief would have turned 60. Bettina Böhler’s brilliantly edited work pulls off the considerable feat of retelling his life and oeuvre exclusively from archive footage in just two hours. From Schlingensief’s first Super 8mm films to his Fluxus Oratorio “A Church of Fear vs. The Alien Within”, her film spans forty years of creativity that also reflects forty years of (German-)German history, with which Schlingensief radically engaged throughout his life. Böhler masterfully assembles film clips and private videos, recordings of theatre performances and copious hitherto unpublished and newly digitalised material. At the end of this tour de force we are left with the question: Would Schlingensief’s art be conceivable in this form today? (Berlinale)
(more)Cast
Christoph Schlingensief (a.f.)
West Germany
Best movies:
Terror 2000 - Intensivstation Deutschland (1992)
United Trash (1996)
Silentium (2004)
Tilda Swinton
UK
Best movies:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Blue (1993)
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Udo Kier
German Empire
Best movies:
The Kingdom (1994) (series)
Narcissus and Psyche (1980)
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Sophie Rois
Austria
Best movies:
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Die Kirschenkönigin (2004) (series)
A Hidden Life (2019)
Margit Carstensen
German Empire
Best movies:
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (series)
Martha (1974) (TV movie)
Satan's Brew (1976)
Irm Hermann
German Empire
Best movies:
Der Zauberberg (1982)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) (series)
Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Alfred Edel
German Empire
Best movies:
The Artist in the Circus Dome: Clueless (1968)
Stroszek (1977)
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
Bernhard Schütz
West Germany
Best movies:
The Billion Dollar Code (2021) (series)
Stopped on Track (2011)
Sense8 (2015) (series)
Helge Schneider
West Germany
Best movies:
Manta - Der Film (1991)
The Little Bastard (1997)
The Kangaroo Chronicles (2020)
Dietrich Kuhlbrodt
German Empire
Best movies:
Europa (1991)
Terror 2000 - Intensivstation Deutschland (1992)
Decoder (1984)
Susanne Bredehöft
West Germany
Best movies:
The Princess and the Warrior (2000)
Terror 2000 - Intensivstation Deutschland (1992)
Lara (2019)