In 2006, in the midst of staging
Schönheit der Schatten, a scenic project on Robert Schumann and Heinrich Heine at Düsseldorf’s Kunsthalle, the great German filmmaker
Werner Schroeter discovered that he was terminally ill.
Elfi Mikesch was a vitally important collaborator of Schroeter’s, having served as cinematographer on most of his later works. In
Mondo Lux she presents an intimate portrait of the filmmaker at work during the last four years of his life, capturing the life force of a man driven by his unflagging passion for the cinema, the stage, and photography. We see him rehearsing for a theater production, preparing for an exhibition of his photographs, and in the studio supervising the completion of his final film,
This Night (2008).
Mondo Lux creates an intimate space – a space in which every day becomes precious in the face of terminal illness. Werner Schroeter died on April 12, 2010.
Presented courtesy Filmgalerie 451 as part of the film series
Female Misbehavior: The Films of Monika Treut and Elfi Mikesch, in collaboration with Anthology Film Archives and Salzgeber Club
Mondo Lux - Die Bilderwelten des Werner Schroeter
Dir. Elfi Mikesch
2011, 97 minutes, digital
With Werner Schroeter, Isabelle Huppert, Rosa von Praunheim, Wim Wenders, Peter Kern, Ingrid Caven, among others
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