Der Erzähler. Nach Walter Benjamin + Talk

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Kategorie: Extra Regional
Show: Saturday, 01. April 2017, 03:30 p.m., Mousonturm // Studio 1

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(Documentary, D 2016), multilingual oringinal with German subtitles, 60 min.Director: Nathaniel Knop
Actors: Peter Eisenman, Simon Starling, Özge Açikkol, Seçil Yersel, Boris Girgiroskyn et al.
Director of Photography: Peter Rippl, Nikita Khokhlov
Production: Anatoli Skatchkov
Editor: Anatoli Skatchkov

MUSIC: Ketevan Scheipner
German premiere

“Whoever can not tell his story does not exist.” (Salman Rushdie) In his essay THE STORYTELLER, the philosopher WALTER BENJAMIN lamented the disappearance of the storytelling. Benjamin’s essay from 1936 is the starting point for director NATHANIEL KNOP, to ask about today’s forms of storytelling and thus about comprehension. He finds answers in the arts, for example, in political activism or with Peter Eisenman, the architect of the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. Knop also lets a walrus hunter talk, who immortalises his stories on the tusks of his prey. DER ERZÄHLER. NACH WALTER BENJAMIN leads us on an exciting journey from Europe to the USA, from India to Russia. Frankfurt also becomes part of the narrative. Supported by HESSEN FILM UND MEDIEN, NATHANIEL KNOP portrays a philosophy of storytelling and provides a fascinating insight into a world full of hidden stories.

TALK ACCOMPANYING THE FILM

Following the screening of the film DER ERZÄHLER. NACH WALTER BENJAMIN, FABRICE MAZLIAH (choreographer and dancer), JOHN SKOOG (artist and film director) and the director of the film NATHANIEL KNOP join in a conversation, which will be hosted by SONIA KNOP.

In discussion, questions regarding “storytelling today” are being negotiated. How do the characteristics of narrative as described by Benjamin, experience, presence, death, manifest? What kind of relationship does it have vis-à-vis alternative facts?

Every morning teaches us about the news of the earth. And yet, we are impoverished in terms of bizarre stories. Walter Benjamin, The Narrator, 1936.