Heiligabend auf St. Pauli

Klaus Wildenhahn’s film “Heiligabend auf St. Pauli” (FRG 1968, 16 mm, 51 min, OV, English subtitles) condenses ten hours of observation of the people in a Hamburg bar on Christmas Eve.

We see drivers, prostitutes, policemen, a coach and an amateur boxer, all avoiding the family holiday and instead seeking alcohol, sex and solitude in the city’s docklands. Although the film seems haphazard, rambling, unshaped by directorial cuts, Farocki points out that Wildenhahn has first chosen a prime spot for his camera, allowing it to dissect and then reassemble events. “After that it is possible to let something slip a little bit off track”.

Mit Antje Ehmann, Harun Farocki, Klaus Wildenhahn

Event in German with simultaneous interpretation