Fata Morgana

Following Bellavista and Totó Peter Schreiner completes his informal trilogy of epic blackandwhite digitalvideo essayfilms with the utterly monumental Fata Morgana Shot in the Libyan desert and in an abandoned building in Lausitz it features a man Christian Schmidt a woman Giuliana Pachner from Bellavista and glimpsed now and again a guide Awad Elkish They talk they fall silent Winds blow The sun shines The camera runs What gradually takes shape is nothing less than a painstakingly concentrated attempt to understand the human condition through the lens of cinema A lofty ambition and one that demands a considerable leap of faith on the part of the audience this film is sedate difficult challenging often apparently impenetrable But anyone who has seen Schreiners previous films will be aware that he is by any standards a major artist one that can be trusted to find places that other directors may not even suspect exist