Letztes Jahr in Utopia
Last Year in Utopia
The participants of a reality TV show, which collapsed mid-production, meet again in the forest where they were meant to develop a utopian society, in a social experiment in front of rolling cameras. But what happened only becomes evident as the film's reconstruction unfolds – Bertolt Brecht meets Big Brother. The relationship between participant and spectator is turned on its head by actors with white makeup, who in the minimalist setting recreate the utopian collapse. Last Year in Utopia charts the territory between documentary filmmaking and conceptual art in a way that questions both genres. (Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival)
Director's Biography
Jana Keuchel, Katharina Knust
Katharina Knust studied Media Arts at Bauhaus-University, Weimar and at Concordia University, Montréal. After an Artist Residency in Finland at Talo, Rovaniemi, she participated in the Masterclass for documentary filmmakers in 2013 and the PMMC Lab 2015 - 2016 at the Werkleitz Center for Media Arts. She works as a freelance filmmaker in Basel. Jana Magdalena Keuchel is a film director and artist based in Leipzig. She worked as a lecturer at Bauhaus-University Weimar and Liberia Film Institute and is part of the Film Collective „Filmische Initiative Leipzig“. She participated in the PMMC Lab 2015 - 2016 at the Werkleitz Center for Media Arts. In 2018 she was participant of Berlinale Talents.
Films Knust: Hier (2014, doc short), Eismädchen (2012, doc)
Films Keuchel: Kontakt (2015, doc short), Die Drehung der Welt (2012, short)
Katharina Knust studied Media Arts at Bauhaus-University, Weimar and at Concordia University, Montréal. After an Artist Residency in Finland at Talo, Rovaniemi, she participated in the Masterclass for documentary filmmakers in 2013 and the PMMC Lab 2015 - 2016 at the Werkleitz Center for Media Arts. She works as a freelance filmmaker in Basel. Jana Magdalena Keuchel is a film director and artist based in Leipzig. She worked as a lecturer at Bauhaus-University Weimar and Liberia Film Institute and is part of the Film Collective „Filmische Initiative Leipzig“. She participated in the PMMC Lab 2015 - 2016 at the Werkleitz Center for Media Arts. In 2018 she was participant of Berlinale Talents.
Films Knust: Hier (2014, doc short), Eismädchen (2012, doc)
Films Keuchel: Kontakt (2015, doc short), Die Drehung der Welt (2012, short)
Architektur und Gesellschaft | Architecture and Society 2018
Jana Keuchel, Katharina Knust
Germany 2017
color
73 minutes
German OV with English subtitles
Screenplay Jana Keuchel, Katharina Knust
Cinematography Florian Fischer, Jana Keuchel, Katharina Knust, Maxi Richter
Sound/Sounddesign Katharina Knust, Kathrin Lemcke, Andrea Rüthel, Ginan Seidl, Justus Wirth
Music Musikmusik (Moritz Sembritzki, Will Sieger)
With Matthias Bernhold, Laura Eichten, Benedikt Flörsch, Mirja Henking, Mia Kaspari, Carolin Maiwald, Léon Schröder, Maik Schrank, Bejean Jaye Banner, Achim Biedermann, Ralf Bockholdt, Franziska Fleige, Amber de la Horra, Raha Emami Khansari, Kadir Peker, Claudia Plöckl, Babette Winter
Producer(s) Jana Keuchel, Katharina Knust
Austrian Premiere
Weltpremiere / World PremiereCPH:DOX 2018
Premierenstatus / Premiere Status
Austrian Premiere
Content notes
