Nikolaus Geyrhalter - ABENDLAND & OUR DAILY BREAD

ABENDLAND
Year: 2010
Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Lenght: 88min
Language: English, German
Subtitles: Chinese

Darkness can help us see things more clearly. In Aben- dland, Nikolaus Geyrhalter undertakes a long associa- tive journey across nighttime Europe. Pulsating service economy and affluent society, the wall of security and exclusion, urban civilization, hedonist Temple of Plea- sure, at once inspired and weighed down by history, tradition and high culture. Night work, self-abandon, noise and silence, confusion of tongues, birth, illness, death and desperate attempts to cross the border. Gey- rhalter’s camera and the congenial editing by Wolfgang Widerhofer create a compelling film essay about one continent and the principle of the West. What enables this continents privileged life is exclusivity, restricting enjoyment of the benefits, and limiting participation, for the simple reason that the available resources wouldn`t be sufficient otherwise. That`s why this paradise is sealed off by an insurmountable electrified fence. Whoever lives in paradise must be prepared to protect it. A film about Europe in the early 21st century

OUR DAILY BREAD
Year: 2005
Director: Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Lenght: 92min
Language: English, German
Subtitles: Chinese

The film depicts how modern food pro- duction companies employ technology to maximize efficiency, consumer safety and profit. It consists mainly of actual working situations without voice-over narration or interviews as the director tries to let view- ers form their own opinion on the subject. The names of the companies where the footage was filmed are purposely not shown. The director’s goal is to provide a realistic view on the internal workings of multiple food production companies in our modern society.