The Europe-wide protests against Chile’s military dictatorship were expressed not only by political activism, but by a host of artistic actions. The colourful aesthetics of the Unidad Popular’s street art, popularised by the Ramona Parra Brigades, became a visual trademark. Based on this model, the Brigada Pablo Neruda, for example, whose members included well-known Chilean artists exiled in Paris like José Balmes, Gracia Barrios and Guillermo Núñez, realised a 60-metre-long mural on the fringes of documenta 6 in Kassel in 1977. Its creation was documented in Franz Lehmkuhl’s film “Chilenische Wandmalerei” (1977–80), screened in Leipzig in 1980. In his agitation film “Chile lebt”, co-produced with Michael Börner, the Chilean journalist and filmmaker Juan Forch uses pictures of the Brigada Pablo Neruda to express what keeps hope in his homeland alive: international solidarity. In 1979, Forch returned to Chile from exile in the GDR.

Florian Wüst

Romantic, mystical, folkloristic: Theodor Kittelsen's (1857–1914) oeuvre as a painter is not just dedicated to nature but also to legends and trolls – and has influenced artists to the present day. Natasha Nikitina for example, whose film takes up Kittelsen's twelve-part series of pictures "Soria Moria Palace" and his eponymous book: The young hero Askeladden sees the golden palace of Soria Moria in the distance and sets out to reach it; an allegory of the golden future that can be earned with a lot of hard work and dedication. In her film, however, Nikitina focuses more on the atmospheric element, letting a troll in a rock wake up and fall asleep again, letting geese and other birds take flight, letting fog and dusk turn into night and back into a glowing morning. A tribute to the artist, but also to the myth-enshrouded Norwegian landscape in general.

Marie Ketzscher

Pioneering multimedia artist and computer animator Lillian Schwartz created “Galaxies” during the early period of her 33-year tenure as artist-in-residence at renowned North American research facility Bell Labs. The piece draws on modeled simulations of galaxies from NASA’s Langley Research Center, which were rendered on a powerful mainframe computer and given to Schwartz to turn into a complete film. Schwartz, who had a background in Japanese calligraphy and painting and whose work often intersects art and technology, approached the material creatively, layering, distorting and colourising the images to breathe new life into the scientific data, with visually striking effect.

Ben Sassen

The RK12 galaxy is twenty-eight billion kilometres away from earth and contains a sandy desert planet inhabited by an extraterrestrial species. Without sunlight, these creatures live off the energy of movement itself. They produce time, love music and push their mortal gods back into space when they are tired of them. A fictitious reportage that showcases Piotr Kamler’s extraordinary skill. In addition to a feature-length sci-fi film, the Polish avant-garde film artist created a number of original and technically outstanding short films. “Green Planet” is a masterful stop motion animation in which Kamler brings delicate shapes made of fine sand to life. Carefully directed lighting, contrasts and focus create a fantastical world whose spatial depth is impressive. The music by Ivo Malec, a pioneer of electro-acoustic and New Music, reinforces the otherworldly atmosphere of the distant setting.

Franka Sachse

They develop software, work as lifestyle coaches, own marketing agencies or an Amazon shop, travel around the world without paying for accommodation: digital nomads for whom a laptop on a suitcase is sometimes enough of a workplace. Some of their aspirations fall by the wayside in the process and become the project of an enterprising Munich-based developer: Mathias is courting rootless individualists and clever investors to become backers of a project that is to turn a deserted former luxury hotel in the Bulgarian mountains into a hip coworking space. He promises a sense of community, intense human connections and few taxes, an outdoor pool and a campfire idyll. While the nomads who dream of home are waiting for the utopia to become reality, the residents of the surrounding villages sense a new “Wind of Change” with some scepticism. A brilliant structural analysis of a business model that capitalises on modern longings and knows how to carve out the necessary space.

Jan Künemund