Synopsis
Steyerl’s film traces the impact of an influx of transnational companies on the city dwellers of Berlin in post-reunification Germany. The effect of the changing economy and politics on the city and its inhabitants is echoed through their physical relocation to its outer edges. In 1990, squatters proclaim a socialist republic on the death strip. Eight years later, the new headquarters of Mercedes Benz are built in the same location. The film makes use of slow super-impositions to uncover a journey across changing architectural and cultural boundaries. "The Empty Centre" tries to give a voice and a history to those who continue to be marginalised by the simultaneous dismantling and reconstruction of the borders which they are trying to cross.
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Festival History
Releases & classifications
| Theatrical | Germany | January 1, 1998 |
Full credits
| Director | Hito Steyerl |
| Cast | Dong Yang, Huan Zhu |
| Producer | Evi Stangassinger, Su Turhan |
Identifiers & sources
| IMDb | tt17555366 |
| TMDB | 281297 |
Additional data: TMDB.
