Zu ebener Erde

To conclude this year’s film series, the m:pathy Film Festival presents the documentary ZU EBENER ERDE by the directing trio Birgit Bergmann, Steffi Franz, and Oliver Werani.

Plain to see in the cityscape and yet often invisible: ZU EBENER ERDE follows people who live without shelter in Vienna. Balancing sensitive closeness with respectful distance, the film’s powerful portraits depict the realities of coping with everyday life on the streets — freedom and dependency, needs and boundaries, health and illness — and ultimately the indivisible dignity of every human being.

We accompany Mr. Birkner on his familiar routes through parks, to makeshift sleeping places, or to social facilities where he is warmly received. Hedy, on the other hand, avoids prolonged stays in cramped shelters even in the biting cold and has built herself a cave-like refuge from branches in the forest on the outskirts of the city. Equally unflinchingly portrayed are the harsh tone between Laco and his fragile-looking wife Katka, as well as oppressive scenes dissolving into alcohol-induced emptiness. These snapshots — navigating between respectful distance and genuine closeness — make ZU EBENER ERDE a disarming film that vividly conveys the lived realities between visibility and invisibility. They also lead viewers to repeatedly reflect on their own surroundings and privileges. A film from the margins of society — that is, in truth, located right among us.

The m:pathy Film Festival is dedicated to bringing films on education, health, and social issues into the spotlight, giving publicly resonant visibility to life-worlds and realities that too often receive little societal attention.

After the screening, a discussion with people directly involved in Vienna’s homelessness services is planned.