With short STAGING DEATH
Nicolette Krebitz’s latest film solidifies her burgeoning reputation as an investigator of the more idiosyncratic tendencies of human emotion. Subverting genre tropes at every opportunity, Krebitz’s playful romance maintains an air of magical realism that never crosses the line into whimsy. Instead, the film employs an arsenal of formal tactics to tell the story of Anna, an aging actress and voice teacher who develops a curious bond with Adrian, one of her students. The film deftly navigates some tricky terrain with a lightness of touch that makes the film a thrillingly open experience. A E I O U: A QUICK ALPHABET OF LOVE presents us with an opportunity to reflect on the nature of our own connections, how we might nurture them and perhaps even find love and meaning in the process.
STAGING DEATH (Experimental short, Germany, 2022, 8 min.): Udo Kier dies his way through film history. He screams, falls, lies, is cut into pieces, is shot, and commits suicide. Again and again, his empty gaze; again and again, his rigid body. In 54 years as an actor, Udo Kier appeared in more than 170 feature films, 120 series episodes, and 50 short films, and he tried to give an expression to dying and death more than 70 times. In Staging Death, these representations of death merge into a montage of the most diverse shots, film formats, special effects, and sound designs.
