So lange du hier bist

In his graduation film for the Kunsthochschule in Cologne, Stefan Westerwelle allows the incomparable worlds of an older gay man and an attractive young male prostitute to become briefly entangled. While objects from a long life are piling up in Georg’s attic room, Sebastian is still searching in a world he wants to withdraw from at fixed times. A friendship develops between the two men, one that transcends the business agreement that once formed the foundation of their encounters. With his patient and mild character, Georg offers a listening ear to the stories told by the imaginative Sebastian, stories the truth of which are never very certain. They do in any case include a difficult past with his father, which makes one wonder about Sebastian’s underlying motives when he allows himself to be spoilt by the older man. Georg is however too delighted with his young friend to suspect danger and goes as far as he can in the world of his love. In order to keep the unpredictable young man with him all the time, Georg tapes their conversations.
While You Are Here, a calmly short film that is mainly set in Georg’s apartment, is an intimate chamber play in which the stuffy atmosphere of the past is led down energetic paths. But for how long? (PvH)