Securing places

Who is seeking shelter, and what does a secure space constitute? A film programme about safety and helplessness, empty and bustling places, escape and home. In May We Sleep Soundly, an impossible silence envelops a town, and its residents have fallen into a deep sleep: are they hibernating – or it is more than that? Completely deserted, statically filmed rooms appear to be poised in a state of waiting in Border Disorder; light on, light off, and it is only when they fall into darkness that the purpose of the windowless rooms becomes apparent. King of Boys (Abattoir of Makoko), set in broad daylight, showcases the abattoir of Makoko in Lagos, where butchers skilfully carve up rams and bulls, going all lengths to exploit every morsel of the carcass. A choreography of bones and noise, shot through a red filter. Refugees live in a row of new houses in Eisenhüttenstadt, known as Eisen. The camp offers them accommodation and shelter; the reception procedure gives structure to their everyday lives, but their stories place their hopes and desires elsewhere. With no reference to time or any indication of her activity, a worker crawls through a closed system of fabric tunnels. Does she have a mission and, if so, what is it? The Last Sentence may perhaps provide an explanation. In the open forest, beyond the Valley of Fear, a group of masked animals is on the brink of hunting each other or uniting to fight a revolution. The battle in Combat is (for) a highly uncertain thing. Light and shadows portray moving images – in between plays with the cinematic space between them.