imai on screen #2
P H I L I P P L A C H E N M A N N : L E V E L - 8 ( 2 0 0 1 )
Wednesday, 6 May 2009, 7.30 pm in the Bambi art-house cinema, Klosterstrasse 78, Duesseldorf
Part 2 of the screening series in the Duesseldorf art-house cinema
imai has dedicated the second issue of the screening series in co-operation with the Duesseldorf art-house cinema to the 96-minute film "LEVEL-8" by Philipp Lachenmann. The film was inspired by Dante's "Divina Commedia", quantum physics and an Indian wall painting in Santa Fe. In 5 interviews mythical landscapes in the west of America meet the situation America found itself in after 11 September, 2001 – the momentous day which heralded a turning point in the US American self-perception and how America is perceived by others.
The title "LEVEL-8" relates firstly to Dante's description of the "Inferno" with the steps to hell defined within and secondly to a TITANIUM nuclear rocket silo where level 8 is the lowest access level to provide a view of the nuclear rocket ready for launch.
In "LEVEL-8" documentary structures are combined with the narrative style of a road movie. Behind and in the stories of the protagonists the ambivalence of the respective narrator is discernible, which erodes the border between truth and fiction.
After the screening Philipp Lachenmann will be available for discussion.
LEVEL-8 Airforce One. © Philipp Lachenmann and imai, Düsseldorf
LEVEL-8 Border Patrol © Philipp Lachenmann and imai, Düsseldorf
