THE ANIMALS´ VIDEO CONFERENCE, REVISITED (2024)

4K, 21 min 32 sec, 1,78:1, stereo, German with English subtitles 

Keywords: Fictional Storytelling, Appropriation of Literature and Space, Documentary

Children and adolescents, who appear as liminal figures in the supposedly universal political space of human organizations, represent animals in The Animals´ Video Conference, Revisited. As figures of the future—particularly within reactionary politics that claim to act on their behalf—they simultaneously embody the real promise of the future, which, in light of global challenges, may no longer be fulfilled. Since the students are not professional actors, the film also explores the boundaries and possibilities of performance.

The film is a 21-minute docu-fiction that adapts Erich Kästner’s children's book The Conference of the Animals (1949) and situates it in the Anthropocene-influenced present. The project spanned two years and went through various periods of restriction. It followed an open dramaturgical approach, incorporating playful elements as well as the appropriation and abstraction of space. The filmmaking process manifests as a social practice.

Realized with pupils of the Nymphenburger Schulen Munich and the Bavarian State Collection for Zoology

Direction: Nathalie Koger
Camera: Mathias Windelberg
Editing: Nathalie Koger
Sound: Fabio Schurischuster
Post-production: Nathalie Koger and Mathias Windelberg

This work was made possible through funding from the Otto Mauer Fonds, CINE ART of the State of Styria, the Department of Culture of the City of Vienna, and Bildrecht (AT).

FFI Edinburgh/London (UK), 2025
Nominated for Best Set Design and the Award for the Extraordinary Showcase of the Arts

Akademie Graz (AT), 2024
Kunstraum Steiermark, viennacontemporary (AT), 2024
Kunstraum am Schauplatz, youngcuratorsclub (AT), 2024
AKKU, Künstlerbund Baden-Württemberg e.V. (DE), 2024

As work in progress:
Hochschule der Künste Bern (CH), 2023
Medienwerkstatt Wien (AT), 2023