Oct 11, 6 pm

Klub Zwei

Things. Places. Years.

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2004 | 70 min

Often, in their representation, experiences of expulsion, emigration and the Holocaust are treated as things past. The documentary “Things. Places. Years.“ recognises the past as part of the present. This past is part of our identities, as the descendants of those deported and forced into exile, as the children of witnesses, bystanders and perpetrators.

“Things. Places. Years.“ shows the impact of forced emigration and the Holocaust in the lives of three generations of women in London. The film also focuses on their work. Nearly all of the twelve women featured in the film found their occupations in the cultural field. Most have a Jewish background. However, it is difficult to define what these women have in common. Is it their Jewishness or their interest in art and culture? Or is it how they confront the past?

The film does not construct a homogeneous female identity. Rather, “Things. Places. Years.“ goes beyond the dilemma of ascription and determination. It gives these women ample space to speak about their identities, which is much more multifaceted than their identification as being Jewish. An identification that was cause for deportation and murder during the Nazi era. An identification that makes Jews out of men and women with a Jewish background. Until this film was made, these women had rarely been asked how they identify themselves.

“Things. Places. Years.“ brings the women’s experiences and analyses to the screen. But it also focuses on quiet moments, silence and contemplativeness. In familiar surroundings, such as their homes or workplaces, women talk about their relationships to places, to things and about their Jewishness. The film also offers the opportunity for us to confront ourselves with anti-Semitism today. Something we should all take time to do. For, the past recurs in the present.
Rosa Reitsamer (Translation: Rosa Reitsamer/Thanks to Erika Doucette)

Directors: Klub Zwei, Simone Bader, Jo Schmeiser
Camera: Anita Makris, Daniel Pöhacker, Rainer Egger
Editing: Maria Arlamovsky, Klub Zwei
Producers: Amour Fou, Gabriele Kranzelbinder, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu
Interviews with: Geraldine Auerbach, Josephine Bruegel, Erica Davies, Katherine Klinger, Elly Miller, Rosemarie Nief, Lisbeth Perks, Anni Reich, Ruth Rosenfelder, Ruth Sands, Nitza Spiro, Tamar Wang

Since 1992 Klub Zwei, Simone Bader and Jo Schmeiser, have been working at the intersection of art, film and new media. Central to our work are current sociopolitical topics and an analysis of the ways in which they are represented in the media and in public. On the one hand we want to achieve critical reflection of representation and public intervention. Because the option for a change of society depends on the politics of representation accompanying it. On the other hand our aim is to develop an exchange between different cultural contexts, and forms of egalitarian cooperation.