Above and Below
Some live in a constantly flooded tunnel, some are preparing to relocate to Mars and others lead a lonely existence in an endless desert. Sounds like your ultimate post-apocalyptic sci-fi film, doesn’t it? But Above and Below is not fiction.
Rick and Cindy are a loving couple. Homeless, they have lived for a long time in a tunnel on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Dave survives alone in a shelter in the Californian desert. He constantly talks about God and sends him messages composed of empty bottles in sand. April has a home, but humanity’s overall crisis makes her think of moving to Mars. She dons an astronaut suit and goes off to explore the rocky Utah landscape as if it indeed were the Red Planet.
Nicolas Steiner takes a high-speed trip through this unseen America, following his outlandish characters with such empathy and passion that it is impossible to call them outsiders. They live, love and dream to the fullest, as only true romanticists can. All of them are the invisible superheroes of today’s world, which seems an abandoned place, full of solitude, longing and a desperate urge for freedom. To reveal its sublime nature you need to be a true poet, and Steiner proves this by providing an epic and yet intimate as well as extremely cinematographic view of everyday survival.
Film details
- Countries of production
- Germany, Switzerland
- Year
- 2015
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2015
- Length
- 120"
- Medium/Format
- DCP
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