Konzert im freien

It was not until 1986 that the statue of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, which still dominates the Marx-Engels-Forum in Berlin, was unveiled. A few years later, the Wall collapsed and the East German sculpture became a bizarre anachronism. Director Jürgen Böttcher, once a confirmed communist, recorded the lengthy hewing and casting, the placing and the official unveiling of the statue. In an experimental documentary, he combines this footage with present-day images of giggling tourists posing in front of the once awe-inspiring figures. The gap between past and present is bridged by an improvised musical dialogue between jazz musicians Dietmar Diesner and Günter ‘Baby’ Sommer. Come rain or shine, on all corners of the square, they perform their surreal and hectic music – a wordless comment on the new era, but also on the peaceful and quiet images from the sculptor’s studio.