A Film by Helena Wittmann

Ida lives on a ship with her crew of five men. In Marseille her attention is caught by the secretive male world of the French Foreign Legion and she decides to follow its traces across the Mediterranean. As Ida and her crew sail via Corsica to the historical headquarters of the Legion in Algeria, boundaries and certainties blur while life at sea produces a special kind of mutual understanding.

"Fluidity is the theme of Helena Wittmann's latest film. The flow of thoughts, mobility, and migration, the free, meandering current of the film, the interconnected network of vessels that our environment forms, and above all, the illusion of borders and the necessity of their defense. A Mediterranean cruise, guided by a woman, takes us from Marseille to Sidi Bel Abbes in Algeria, the early headquarters of the French Foreign Legion. Against this symbol of colonial violence and subjugation of lands, seas, and nations, the director juxtaposes her own "army" of poets, nomads, and connoisseurs led by a woman. Her crew does not confine itself within fortresses, nor does it desire conquest, but moves fluidly between water and land, silence and conversation, history and the present, navigating through various territorial waters—paying homage to the ever-changing world, a world without borders."
- Małgorzata Sadowska



This is Part One in a two-part event. Part One begins at 3pm, and Part Two begins at 5:30pm. A single ticket grants access to both parts.

Join us at e-flux Screening Room on Saturday, April 12 for a two-part event with Helena Wittmann featuring a 3pm screening of Human Flowers of Flesh (2022) followed at 5:30pm by a sonic lecture performance by the artist.

The event is co-presented with the e-flux, the German Film Office, and Goethe-Institut New York, in collaboration with Cinema Guild.