SHORT NEWS

Zweifache Auszeichnung bei Planet Doc Warschau für ABENDLAND

 

Doppelte Auszeichnung für Nikolaus Geyrhalter beim Planete Doc Festival in Warschau: sein Dokumentarfilm Abendland wurde mit dem Millenium-Preis, dem mit € 8.000,- dotierten Hauptpreis des Festivals, ausgezeichnet und erhielt auch eine Lobende Erwähnung von der Jury des Canon Cinematography Award.


ABENDLAND
von Nikolaus Geyrhalter (NGF Nikolaus Geyrhalter Filmproduktion)
hergestellt mit Unterstützung von Österreichisches Filminstitut, ORF, Filmfonds Wien
Kamera: Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Schnitt: Wolfgang Widerhofer

Die Begründung der Millenium Jury:
Showing the underbelly of civilization as seen at night, Occident is a powerful indictment done with Nikolaus Geyrhalter's unique flair for composition and pacing. Occident's more common title, ABENDLAND, means "the west" in German, or literally "evening land." As seen in Our Daily Bread,his earlier film about industrialized agriculture, Geyerhalter applies a cold, clinical, and quite sharp critique of the extraordinary and unsustainable amount of technology, security and other means that maintain European cities –  from the high fences and constant patrols that keep Africans from getting into Spain to the simulated police trainings. Memorable vignettes throughout including a police crackdown on nuclear activists attempting to block a train car of nuclear waste, a mega-rave, a pornography shoot, a mail sorting facility, and much more. There are occasional lighthearted moments that crop up in this thorough indictment of "progress" and "modernity," all done without narration. What's remarkable is that Geyerhalter's distinctive voice and touch come through undiluted. Geyerhalter allows us to crawl down the manhole of the modern world to see what allows everything above ground to exist.