Distance

Colour, 35 mm
Germany, 2008, 84 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

Young, rather timid introvert Daniel Bauer works as a gardener in the botanical gardens, where he gets to know Jana, one of his colleagues. Jana, however, starts to suspect that there’s something not quite right about Daniel... This disturbing and oppressive portrait of a mass murderer is ostensibly as cold and restrained as its hero. It follows events with neutral detachment, sober and minimalist in style. At the same time, it provides excellent psychological profiles of its characters, the somewhat asocial and psychopathic outsider Daniel, and the similarly withdrawn, diffident, yet good-natured and fervent Jana. Killing random passers-by introduces some kind of curious purpose into Daniel’s empty life. Through him, the movie speaks of anonymity, violence and the lack of a sense of fulfilment in today’s world, doing so without ostentation, but all the more invasively. This low-key film is one of those which unfold entirely logically, yet leave behind an unpleasant aftertaste. Distance was screened in the section Perspectives of German Cinema at the Berlin IFF.

About the director

Thomas Sieben (b. 1976, Cologne) studied politics at the Ludwig-Wilhelm University in Münster, and film and photography at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. From 1999 to 2001 he worked as a producer for various production companies. He also works as a freelance journalist. He lives in Berlin. His short film Hit and Run (2002) was nominated for the Starter Regie Prize in Munich. Distance is his feature film debut.