March 6, 2025 at 6 PM
Abendland (2024): A Film by Omer Fast
Film Screening and Director’s Talk |This event, alongside the screening of "August" at Bangkok Kunsthalle, is part of the exhibition "Omer Fast – Human Subjects" at MISIEM’S / NEXT DOOR, curated and presented by 16 avril
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Goethe Saal, Goethe-Institut Thailand, Bangkok
- Language German with English subtitles
- Price Free entry
Directed by Omer Fast
Germany / 2024 / 115 min.
(German with English subtitles)
A group of masked activists charges at loggers working deep in the forest. Youth briefly overwhelm the capital, but the state inevitably strikes back. A single activist escapes. She wears an Angela Merkel mask and is chased by the police through the forest until she tumbles down a steep ravine, crashing into a thicket of blackberries, where she lies unconscious and stranded.
The reality Merkel wakes up in is both stranger and more concrete, as if she had entered a parallel world. But unlike Robinson Crusoe or Alice in Wonderland, the strange new landscape she explores is her own country, and the natives she eventually meets are her fellow citizens. They live in a hidden commune high up in the trees, having declared independence from the failing German state. At first, the isolated commune appears to be a magical utopia. Still, Merkel is a refugee and an outsider. She has difficulties integrating and is increasingly troubling her hosts. As tensions rise, friends and foes continue to shift around her. Merkel escapes to the forest, but one of the colonists follows her.
Omer Fast – Human Subjects brings together four major pieces in a multi-floor installation, with each room focusing on an individual haunted by outside forces: Karla (2020), 5000 Feet is the Best (2011), August (2016), and The Invisible Hand (2018). This will be exhibited at MISIEM’S / NEXT DOOR from 28 Feburary–31 March 2026.
In Asia, Fast has recently had solo shows at the Times Museum in Guangzhou, the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, M+, Parasite and Tai Kwun in Hong Kong.
Germany / 2024 / 115 min.
(German with English subtitles)
A group of masked activists charges at loggers working deep in the forest. Youth briefly overwhelm the capital, but the state inevitably strikes back. A single activist escapes. She wears an Angela Merkel mask and is chased by the police through the forest until she tumbles down a steep ravine, crashing into a thicket of blackberries, where she lies unconscious and stranded.
The reality Merkel wakes up in is both stranger and more concrete, as if she had entered a parallel world. But unlike Robinson Crusoe or Alice in Wonderland, the strange new landscape she explores is her own country, and the natives she eventually meets are her fellow citizens. They live in a hidden commune high up in the trees, having declared independence from the failing German state. At first, the isolated commune appears to be a magical utopia. Still, Merkel is a refugee and an outsider. She has difficulties integrating and is increasingly troubling her hosts. As tensions rise, friends and foes continue to shift around her. Merkel escapes to the forest, but one of the colonists follows her.
This event is presented within the framework of the exhibition Omer Fast – Human Subjects at MISIEM’S / NEXT DOOR. The exhibition is curated and presented by 16 avril.
As an accompanying programme, two screenings will take place:
6 March 2026—Abendland at the Goethe-Institut Thailand
7 March 2026—August at Bangkok Kunsthalle
Both screenings will be followed by a director’s talk with Omer Fast, moderated by curator and researcher Pathompong Manakitsomboon.
As an accompanying programme, two screenings will take place:
6 March 2026—Abendland at the Goethe-Institut Thailand
7 March 2026—August at Bangkok Kunsthalle
Both screenings will be followed by a director’s talk with Omer Fast, moderated by curator and researcher Pathompong Manakitsomboon.
On "Omer Fast – Human Subjects":
The exhibition will showcase a selection of acclaimed artist and filmmaker Omer Fast's video installations, films and multimedia works, offering Thai audiences an opportunity to experience his innovative storytelling and layered narratives.Omer Fast – Human Subjects brings together four major pieces in a multi-floor installation, with each room focusing on an individual haunted by outside forces: Karla (2020), 5000 Feet is the Best (2011), August (2016), and The Invisible Hand (2018). This will be exhibited at MISIEM’S / NEXT DOOR from 28 Feburary–31 March 2026.
About Omer Fast
Omer Fast is an artist, filmmaker, and professor at the Hamburg University of the Arts. He has been exhibited in major institutions worldwide, including solo shows at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Pinakotek der Moderne Munich in Munich, the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin, the Jeu de Paume in Paris and the Baltic Art Centre in Newcastle. Group exhibitions include the Whitney Biennial (2002 and 2008), the 54 th Venice Biennale (2011), documenta 13 (2012), the Berlin Biennale (2022) and the Lyon Biennale (2024).In Asia, Fast has recently had solo shows at the Times Museum in Guangzhou, the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, M+, Parasite and Tai Kwun in Hong Kong.
Location
Goethe Saal, Goethe-Institut Thailand
MRT: Lumphini Station
18/1
Soi Goethe, Sathon 1
Bangkok
Thailand
MRT: Lumphini Station
18/1
Soi Goethe, Sathon 1
Bangkok
Thailand