Transient Witness

| Düsseldorf, Lüneburg, Dresden
(BALi, KulturBahnhof Kassel)

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Inspired by the children’s book about two squares created by El Lisstzky exactly 100 years ago, TRANSIENT WITNESS simultaneously merges and obscures the intimate from the public, in a story where the actions of collecting and stealing function as synonyms and inheritance and loss immerse. It is a fictional story of the transfer of the objects from the private house of Avant Garde collector Egidio Marzona in Berlin to their new domicile – the “Japanisches Palais” – a Rococo building that belongs to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. The plot is told through the eyes of three main characters: Christina, the manager of the collection; Maurizio, the art mover; and Präsens the collector’s dog. Fiction meets reality: the film takes place on November 25, 2019. On that day, priceless jewelry of immense cultural value was stolen from the Green Vault in Dresden in one of the biggest art heists in history, causing a national shock in Germany. The film unfolds a complex story, navigating between historical facts about the Baroque and the Avant Garde, art and its politics.

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  • Duration: 46 Min.
  • Countries: Germany
  • Languages: German, Italian
  • Subtitles: English
  • Production year: 2022

  • Director: Assaf Gruber
  • Camera: Frank Meyer
  • Editing: Assaf Gruber, Dane Komljen
  • Sound: Jochen Jezussek
  • Production: Caroline Kirberg, Assaf Gruber