Our GOETHE FILMS @ digital TIFF Lightbox series "Loneliness and the City" runs Canada-wide May 15-23, including the international premiere of award-winning director Nicola Graef's latest film. Here is Berlin filmmaker Graef (Ich.Immendorff; Neo Rauch: Comrades and Companions) on her new documentary A Lonely City:
“Poor, but sexy,” -- “Berlin, the world’s coolest party city,” -- “Berlin, the latest trend” … many attributes have made Berlin a magnet for the entire world in recent years. Young people, students, artists and intellectuals, tourists flock to the German capital to experience its laid-back, imperfect flair. But what else does Berlin stand for? What’s it like behind the scenes of party-soaked nights?
What happens when the doors close after another trendy art event? Berlin also has an entirely different face. If you live here for a long time, you notice how many people walk the streets talking to themselves; how many people are alone,
how many people live here without social connections. I started keeping track of these observations. I talked to people, read statistics. Every third household in the capital city is a single household. I felt the need to show the other Berlin as well. The anonymity, the difficulty making friends here, the non-committal nature of encounters. This is how A Lonely City was born. It was important to me to meet people who would tell me their story of life in Berlin. I found people between the ages of 19 and 85. I approached them in cafés and on the street, looked around my wider circle of acquaintances, talked to therapists. My aim was to create a comprehensive kaleidoscope; to show that
loneliness has no respect for anyone, everyone can be caught in its grasp regardless of age, social background, family context. But the film doesn’t aim to dwell on sadness. It also wants to show that change is always possible. Anyone can find their way. It requires courage, flexibility and personal commitment.
Co-producer Susanne Brand adds:
A Lonely City is unexpectedly more topical than ever. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus even more people know what it means when contact with others is restricted or, worst case, prevented altogether. The phenomenon has become sadly topical and shows how much big cities and metropolitan areas are affected. A Lonely City is therefore also a metaphor for all big cities.
Berlin could just as well be Paris, London or Tokyo.
image A Lonely City courtesy Lona Media/Real Fiction
