Anamnesis

“What do we see when we can’t see something?” This is the question that Chris Wright, one of the two directors, poses off-screen at the beginning. It’s a big question and one that takes him to the heart of a key dilemma in documentary filmmaking. What we don’t see is the face of the most important figure in the film, Stefan S., who is serving a life sentence in a Brandenburg jail. He is in preventative custody, but can leave the prison from time to time; release on parole is also a possibility, but the weight of the guilt hangs heavy. Stefan S. killed a female colleague of his after stalking her. This generates unease. Who wants to deal with a criminal? Who wants to even see him? Filmmakers Chris Wright and Stefan Kolbe have never been ones to separate off the difficult facets of human existence. They keep looking, even as Stefan S. withdraws. They substitute the absence of the perpetrator’s face by allowing a puppet and two puppeteers to take the stage, supplemented by masks, reflections and projections. The film is held together by the motif of threads and strings, and the voiceover has the courage to express doubts about the entire endeavour. (Berlinale)