A Low Life Mythology

A Low Life Mythology is a 2012 film directed by Lior Shamriz and starring Nina Fog and Johannes Hendrik Langer. It was written by the director with some improvisations by the cast and includes guest appearances by artists Hito Steyerl, Wolfgang Müller and others. The film premiered at the 2012 Achtung Berlin Film Festival.[1]

A Low Life Mythology
Film poster
Directed byLior Shamriz
Written byLior Shamriz and the cast
Produced byLior Shamriz
Starring
CinematographyMarco Armborst
Music byAssaf Gidron
Distributed byspektakulativ
Release date
  • 19 April 2012 (2012-04-19) (Achtung Berlin)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryGermany
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50,000

Plot

Mana Avaris is a foreign art student from an obscure country who lives in Berlin, Germany. According to her own testimony in the film, she's attending the school solely for the purpose of obtaining a visa. At a house party in Kreuzberg, Mana runs into Asten, a young dreamy man. The story of their relationship unfolds throughout the film.[2]

Within the film are the art works supposedly made by Mana, Asten and their social circle. They are mostly essay films but some were materialized as real performances to an unsuspecting audience, such as the full-nudity monologue by Shirley Rosenthal which was recorded live at the Barbie Deinhoff queer bar, a known establishment in Berlin.[3]

The film deals with an imaginary world based in narrative deconstruction, in the deformation and experimentation of the figure, in the image that overflows its materiality to break down, revive and divide itself.[4] Many historical references dealing with foreignness and multiculturalism appear in the film, in characters' names (Avaris being the capital of the Hyksos in Egypt) and the films the characters present each other, such as Nabonidus and Cyrus and the destruction of the Library of Alexandria. The writing credits were attributed to Pierre Menard,[5] a fictional character from a short story by Jorge Luis Borges[6]

Cast
ActorRole
Nina FogMana Avaris
Johannes Hendrik LangerAsten Büchner
Kirsten BurgerJustine Heidelberg
Hito SteyerlMana's mother
Imri KahnXenakiss Paul
Katja SallayXandra Mantra
Chloe GriffinMusician Friend
Patrizia CavalliereShirley Rosenthal

Production

The film was produced with a grant by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the French art foundation Bambi. It showed at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival as part of a retrospective for the director[7] and was later nominated to the Prize of the German National Gallery for young Film Art.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Festival Catalogue 8. Achtung berlin - new berlin film award 2012".
  2. "Berlin Art Film Festival website".
  3. Sood, Arun (2011-08-17). "Guardian's 10 best Berlin bars list". The Guardian.
  4. "Desistfilm".
  5. "IMDb". IMDb. 20 April 2012.
  6. "Gerritconfurius.com".
  7. "Screendaily".
  8. "2013 National Gallery Prize for young Film Art".
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