Prince of Peace

Changing reality into reality. But don´t ask me which one into which. No points, no questions. Coming closer. Loving to see.
See lovingly. Dancing. Can dancing be sad? Okay, no questions. A dead friend. (Hans Scheugl)

The entrance to a men´s toilet in an underground pedestrian passage in Vienna. Church bells are heard in the distance.
In a merciless editing rhythm, anonymous men are brought ever closer to the opaque glass door, in rhythmic stanzas they are stucked ever deeper inside the room one can´t see into. In between there are photos from a pornographic magazine, in which a tottooed Saviour is placed in a direct connection with the sexual intercourse between two men - all to the sounds of ghastly brass band music. “Prince of Peace” is written under the Redeemer’s face.
Questions: Are bells an impetus or do they represent a Catholic background? Are the refrains telling of a real, existing grey zone, or do they illustrate the imagination? Does the Prince of Peace stand for redemption from a hopeless situation, or for macho-pathos which has got under one´s skin too deep? And are the atonal streams of light and sound which emanate from the toilet door at the end repulsive or attractive?
Above and beyond this: oppressively profane, unadorned materialism, the everyday underground, cheap gloss, plain language (simply by covering up naked facts with white paper). At the end, a dedication to a dead friend. (Claus Philipp)

Orig. Title
Prince of Peace
Year
1993
Country
Austria
Duration
8 min
Director
Hans Scheugl
Category
Avantgarde/Arts
Orig. Language
No Dialogue
Downloads
Prince of Peace (Image)
Credits
Director
Hans Scheugl
Idea/Concept
Hans Scheugl
Cinematography
Reinhard Kofler
Music
Ulf Langheinrich
Editing
Hans Scheugl
Production
Hans Scheugl
Available Formats
16 mm (Distribution Copy)
Aspect Ratio
1:1,37
Sound Format
mono
Frame Rate
24 fps
DCP 2K flat (Distribution Copy)
Aspect Ratio
1:1,37
Sound Format
stereo
Frame Rate
24 fps
Color Format
colour
Digital File (prores, h264) (Distribution Copy)
Festivals (Selection)
1993
London - BFI International Film Festival
1994
Karlsruhe - Cinevideo - Tage des unabängigen Films
Rotterdam - Int. Filmfestival
Melbourne - Int. Film Festival
Sydney - International Film Festival
Osnabrück - EMAF - European Media Art Festival
London - BFI Flare LGBT Festival
Barcelona - L’ALTERNATIVA - II Mostra Internacional de Cinema Alternatiu
München - Int. Dokumentarfilmfestival
New York MIX-NY, Queer Film Festival
1995
Edinburgh - Fringe Film and Video Festival
Riga - Arsenals - Int. Film Festival
Olympia - Film Festival
Namur - Festival Int. du Court Métrage
Montréal - Image&Nation Gaie et Lesbienne Montréal, Festival Int. de Cinéma et Video
Stuttgart - Filmwinter, Expanded Media Festival
Toronto - Inside Out / Lesbian & Gay Film and Video Festival
Vancouver - Lesbian & Gay Film and Video Festival
Princeton - Queer Articulations Film&Video Festival
Long Beach - Gay & Lesbian Festival
2003
Sao Paulo - Mix Brasil