
Remember when politics was fun? One of the late art maverick Christoph Schlingensief’s more curious and ambitious pieces of work was his 1998 founding of a political party called “Last Chance”. Now, Kathrin Krottenthaler and Frieder Schlaich bring us a film about the pre-Die PARTEI satirical movement/theatre project at the Volksbühne: CHANCE 2000 – Farewell to Germany, compiled from more than 100 hours of original video material. With English subtitles!
Conceived in a circus tent in Prater biergarten in Prenzlauer Berg, the provocateur’s intention of helping independent candidates run for office quickly evolved into a crazy mix of activism, politics, satire and art all at once. Among other actions, the group invited Germany’s six million unemployed to bathe in the lake next to Helmut Kohl’s holiday house in the hope that the rising water levels would flood it.
This was almost 20 years ago, and today Germany’s still looking for a real alternative. CHANCE 2000 takes us back and follows Schlingensief and co. as their political theatre project unfolds through six different performances and interventions, forms its own protest party and became as known as the longest and largest project of its kind in Germany.
After a roaring first showing at the Volksbühne in June, we present the English-subtitled version in our special election edition of EXBlicks on September 11, 8pm at Lichtblick Kino, followed by a Q&A with project contributor Nina Wetzel, who was a very tight collaborator of Schliengensief’s in the 1990s and early-2000s as costume and stage designer.
Election Special: CHANCE 2000 – Farewell to Germany, 20:00 | Lichtblick Kino, Prenzlauer Berg