Tracking down various segments of the Berlin Wall scattered all over the US, this eccentric yet down-to-earth documentary from Courtney Stephens and Pacho Velez traces how a historic artefact can mutate and splinter into myriad meanings. Transformed by their surroundings as well as the film-makers’ gaze, these concrete slabs are more than a symbol of the cold war; they have come to represent something quintessentially American. From the midwest to California, state department halls to roadside restaurants, chunks of the wall can be found in the most unlikely of places. Most often positioned as a commemoration of history – and that loaded concept of “freedom” – the fragments are occasionally entirely untethered from their context, re-erected decoratively inside a Microsoft office or in the home of a private collector. Using 16mm film stock, the documentary has the feel of William Eggleston’s studies of mundane Americana. As the camera lingers on ordinary spaces such as a hotel lobby, the presence of a section of the wall is simultaneously bizarre and unremarkable.
‘The American Sector’ — US road trip to hunt down remnants of the Berlin Wall
Published on: June 27, 2023 11:48 AM