61
cled nuclear waste, and police remove the protes-
tors who are sitting on the track to prevent the train
carrying waste from continuing on its journey. The
wordAbendland can also mean “superior culture”.
It is a word thrown around when border security is
discussed. Surveillance is one of the many themes
throughout the movie, which opens on a surveil-
lance van in the middle of an empty
fi
eld.
Danube Hospital
Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Runtime: 80’
Year: 2012
Nikolaus Geyrhalter has proved to be one of the
most talented documentary
fi
lmmakers in Aus-
trian production. In
Danube Hospital
, his camera
travels through the many departments, corridors,
rooms and cellars of one of the largest hospitals in
Europe, where the movements and work routines
that compose a harmonious whole of accuracy and
precision are orchestrated. In this amazing visit,
we feel like privileged spectators, opening doors
to which patients normally have no access; this is
a
fi
lm that shows us how health, sickness, life and
death are cared for by a complex institution in a
country with a high level of development.
727 Days Without Karamo
Director: Anja Salomonowitz
Runtime: 80’
Year: 2013
An Austrian woman has been forced to live alone
with her children ever since her husband Karamo
was deported to Africa. A man tries to instil hope
to his Chinese wife that she will soon be allowed
to return to Vienna. Others talk of the long wait for
residence permits, of struggles with forms and of-
fi
ces, of German courses, income statements and
domestic spot checks by the police which infer
that their marriage is a sham. The complicated,
state regulated reality experienced by various bi-
national couples forms the basis for this formally
unusual political documentary. Each protagonist
appears just once, presenting his or her experiences
in a clearly staged manner within highly stylised
settings. Both their costumes and the locations
they appear in are presented in shades of yellow
throughout, with sound collages and
fi
ctionalising
music representing a further creative intervention
on the acoustic level. With the colour yellow serv-
ing as a linking mechanism, the various personal
contributions form themselves into a fluid docu-
mentary account of the confrontation between love
and restrictive immigration law.
727 Days Without
Karamo
is a story of madness with method.
For more information, please refer to:
Email:
Tel.: +357 22663871
727 Days Without Karamo
Abendland
