carsten nicolai’s short film betonschiff ohne namen (2023) is structured as a moving still life. an imposing concrete ship — overgrown with reeds and moss, inhabited by birds — lies stranded on a sandbank in the shallow waters of wismar bay on the baltic sea.
the 300-ton vessel serves as a lens through which to view german history: from its origins in the nazi era to its successive transformations into a storage facility, a breakwater, and finally a party boat. nicolai describes the wreck as a “metapher für eine gestrandete utopie” — a metaphor for a stranded utopia — and calls for ruins to be preserved rather than erased, understood as artifacts that carry the fractures of a turbulent past.
with slow camera movements and restrained imagery, the film traces the beauty of decay and the poetry of stillness. the accompanying score, drawn from nicolai’s xerrox series and produced under his musical alias alva noto, deepens the film’s contemplative atmosphere.
director / editor: carsten nicolai
souind: alva noto
producer: toni jaschke
production manager: patrick berghold
director of photography: jieun yi
drone pilot: stefan müller
drone camera: ben frik
digital imaging technician: frank hellwig
postproduction: simon mayer
postproduction: axel klostermann
annorak film berlin, schwebewerk berlin, acht frankfurt
thanks to malte grunert, vantage film berlin
supported and commissioned by volkstheater rostock - festival axis
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