Under the Underground

It would be best not to try some things presented in this film at home, for one thing, if you attach any importance to sparing your body the risk of being slammed by a high voltage bolt of electricity. Fact is there are unsecure electrical experiments being conducted in a surreal parallel universe set up by the Viennese musician, technician and sound engineer Chris Janka in rambling catacombs somewhere beneath Vienna´s seventh district – as if this was at all normal. Janka is incessantly building and tinkering with his equipment and he seems to derive pure joy from his inventions and test assemblies, even if their purpose is not always clear to outsiders.

At the end of the 1980s, squatters and punk musicians shared this place with packs of rats that came and went. In the meantime, it is occupied by amplifiers, drum sets, retro reel-to-reel tape recorders and mixing boards for professional recording sessions. Director Angela Christlieb portrays the site and its master of ceremonies using dynamic, densely processed images that interweave musical interludes by such uncompromising niche acts as Blueblut, Schapka, Petra und der Wolf and MCRhine, while including an appearance by the host´s brother, Ali Janka – member of the artist group Gelitin. Christlieb presents the Janka brothers as holy fools engaged in absurd artist practices while they narrate how, over the course of decades, the cellar passageways became a studio. They recall how absurd but also romantically punk those early years felt, back when they lived here without electricity, money or running water – and always including a pinch of mortal danger. But in truth what really threatens this underground paradise comes from outside – and outside the non-commercial logic at work here. (Stefan Grissemann)


Angela Christlieb´s documentary guides us through the improvised spaces of Janka Industries, an underground cellar vault and creative microcosm of Vienna´s subculture. Voodoo Jürgens and Bands such as Petra und der Wolf and Tankris practice and perform here in the midst of a bizarre hodge-podge of electronic scrap. A music film and an ultimate underground homage that cinematically captures the magic of the site. (catalogue Diagonale 2019)

More Texts

Jurybegründung beste Musikdokumentation beim UNERHÖRT! Musikfilmfestival 2019

Angela Christliebs Film ist eine magische Annäherung an einen buchstäblichen Underground im Zentrums Wiens. Man fühlt sich schnell hineingezogen in diese Kellerhöhle, die sowohl als Proberaum, Studio, Büro und Labor dient und unterschiedlichste Nutzungsweisen auch dadurch erlaubt, dass sie sich keinen Profitimperativ auferlegt. Dieser Keller wird bevölkert von KlangforscherInnen, MusikerInnen und BastlerInnen, deren Charme in ihrer Experimentierfreudigkeit und Offenheit liegt. Ein Nährboden, auf dem unterschiedliches Genres und Acts wie Voodoo Jürgens, Petra und der Wolf und Tankeis gedeihen können. Sehr deutlich weist der Film auf Möglichkeiten des musikdokumentarischen Filmemachens hin, die jenseits der formatierten und formelhaften Fersehdoku liegen und Zuhören, Zuschauen, Geduld, Hingabe und Genauigkeit lehren. Talking Heads oder externe Expertinnen, die jenseits des Undergrounds liegen, benötigt dieser Film nicht. "Under the Underground" interveniert dabei nicht nur Debatten zu Formfragen der Musikdokumentation, sondern auch zu Fragen von Stadtentwicklung und Verdrängungsprozessen und ist ein Plädoyer zur Bewahrung solcher wichtigen Freiräume.
Orig. Title
Under the Underground
Year
2019
Country
Austria
Duration
54 min
Category
Documentary
Orig. Language
German
Subtitles
English
Credits
Director
Angela Christlieb
Cinematography
Philipp Bevanda, Chris Krikellis, Angela Christlieb
Music
La Coquette, Petra und der Wolf, Schapka, Tankris, Voodoo Jürgens, XTMLX, Blueblut, Chicken, First Fatal Kiss, Luise Pop, MusikarbeiterInnenkapelle, Noisy Town Groove
Editing
Angela Christlieb
Production
Angela Christlieb
Participant
Chris Janka, Ali Janka
Supported by
Wien Kultur MA 7
Available Formats
DCP 2K flat (Distribution Copy)
Aspect Ratio
1:1,85
Sound Format
Dolby 5.1.
Frame Rate
25 fps
Color Format
colour
Digital File (prores, h264) (Distribution Copy)
Festivals (Selection)
2019
Graz - Diagonale, Festival des österreichischen Films
Hof - Internationale Filmtage
Lausanne LUFF Underground Film Festival
Kassel - Dokumentarfilm- & Videofest
Victoria - Antimatter Underground Film Festival
Berlin - SoundWatch Musikfilmfestival (Audience Award)
Hamburg - Unerhört! MusikFilmfestival (Jury Main Award)
2020
Zagreb - Vox Feminae
Innsbruck - Diametrale Filmfestival
Köln - Stranger Than Fiction Dokumentarfilmfestival
2021
Bordeaux - BordeauxRock