Films by Markus Lenz

Germany 2020, 97 min
by Andreas Voigt

The river Oder: A historical and cultural landscape churned again and again by the tide of events of the past century. A tale told in concentric circles about a region which was and still is the scene of the beginning, end and open middle of voluntary and involuntary migrations. Virulent issues of daily life and politics that, asked with confident casualness, provide a robust account of the present.Movements and stories in the border region between Poland and Germany – Andreas Voigt’s new film takes up the themes of his 1992 work “Borderland – A Journey”. The charged term “homeland” stirs up (trouble in) the minds and hearts of the people: What it once was and what has become of it! Sure, that’s not the top priority in their daily agenda. But how people appropriate this term and how that in turn structures their attitudes also determines how they figure out the taste of life in the here and now of Europe. The search for closeness is confronted with the insistence on distance. Communication about belonging becomes flimsy because the body language says something different than the spoken word. As a film that’s not about administering a politically correct separation diet, “Borderland” provokes experiences and enables encounters. (DOK Leipzig, Ralph Eue)

Germany 2016, 92 min
by Elí Roland Sachs

Jakob is my dear brother. He used to love to party, make music and let himself drift through life in Berlin. Then six years ago, he suddenly became a Muslim. He broke off contact with his old friends and his old ways. Now as a Salafist, every question has an answer in the rules of a fundamental Islam.By filming him, I go in search of our lost bond of brotherly love and suddenly find myself on a journey with him, that goes beyond a religious exploration.

Germany 2014, 73 min
by Markus Lenz

What happens when a bank fails?
For example it is gonna be squatted by 3000 people and transformed into a housing project.
Downtown Caracas a 200 meter skyscraper-ruin is rising up to the caribbean sky and is used as a shelter for 750 families. Ignored by the city's administration and dreaded by the neighborhood the inhabitants of Torre Confinanzas build up their own model of a socialist micro-society in their vertical city. Ruina tells about difficulties and achievements by building up a social community out of a mass of people.