This Ain’t No Heartland

Andreas Horvath is one of the few non-American film makers in this programme. Yet he certainly earns his place -and provides one of the most important contributions. During the war against Iraq, that was and is supported by the majority of Americans, Horvath travelled through the rural Midwest of the United States. There, he polled opinions among the local population. An almost forgotten population, left behind in the countryside in decay, cut off from the rapid advance of consumerism. Horvath chose to make a collage of different styles and genres (analogous to the approach of the American writer John Dos Passos) in order to approach the various aspects of the issue and of the specific area of the country. He has a sensitive photographic eye and mixes effective images of the agricultural landscape with portraits of (often eccentric) inhabitants, songs, radio programmes, television sermons, newsreel footage, Super8 films etc. Not all inhabitants turn out to share the concern of the average European about the American war. There are happy to have good roads at last, even if they could do with more rain. Can’t the film maker do anything about that? It’s precisely in this godforsaken spot that it becomes clear how difficult an undisturbed life can be united with involvement in affairs you only know from television. (GjZ)