Films by Vika Kirchenbauer

Germany 2026, 16 min
by Vika Kirchenbauer

At a time when elements of fascisation are becoming ever more apparent, ever more pervasive, artist Vika Kirchenbauer takes a personal look at what is in the air in present-day Germany. This Suffocating Now witnesses the historical present as a condition marked by vectors of violence that have continuously and habitually existed, and puts its focus on the fault lines that have most explicitly exposed the illiberal underbelly of a liberal state and society in recent years: Palestine solidarity as well as queer and trans rights. Drawing from a vast variety of source material, the 16-minute essay film flows in an uneven rhythm through still and moving imagery. Observations from the past three years – such as the increased police presence and recurring police violence, which Kirchenbauer captures from her balcony in Berlin – are viewed within a broader German historical framework. Over mundane images of her home improvement efforts, the artist problematises her own social ascent to becoming a university professor and civil servant. This personal reflection serves as an entry point to addressing the intimate relation between state and contemporary art in the German cultural system as a whole. Source of Synopsis

2021, 16 min
by Vika Kirchenbauer

A return to the village where the director grew up after an absence of over ten years marks the point of departure for this film. It is an attempt at a self-reflexive artistic critique that considers contemporary art from a perspective of class. The film reflects upon the manifold meanings of distance in both its subjective and social senses, as personal circumstance or necessity, but also as a prerequisite for seeing and experiencing, as well as for critical or artistic engagement. Who has the privilege of distance in contrast to those whose lives and bodies remain intimately affected by politics and its effects? [DocLisboa 2021]