exergue - on documenta 14

Not sure why someone would make a film about this and one that lasts 14 hours. Even less sure about why anyone would watch such a film and why the Berlinale would programme this. It is widely recognised that documenta's somewhat colonial relocation to Athens was not a particularly successful occasion and it is incredible that for an exhibition that attracted such huge amounts of critique in Greece, the documentary does not provide a lot of space for these discussions. Visually, there is not much here either, this is somewhat TV-like. Overall, it feels like a way too expensive project that does not really interest many outside of the team of documenta itself.

This could have been an interesting film if it was 12 hours shorter, but alas it is an overstretched and tiring character study on someone simply not that interesting. Why would a privileged straight white man get so much space in this epic doc is totally bizarre in 2024, when there is really not that much at stake here politically. If it was limited to a small, reasonable format focusing on the art fair's political complexities by relocating to Athens, it could have been interesting. But in this 14h format (!) I cannot imagine that there is an audience for this. Can it be a miscalculation of the production company? I wouldn't be surprised. They are known for their pharaonic and old-fashioned approach to cinema.

To someone like me who has seen the documenta project in Athens from its conception and all the way through its completion, this film is absolute propaganda, with the sole purpose being to wash documenta out of all the very valuable critiques that were happening in the city of Athens while documenta was there, some of which have actually resulted in a number of interesting projects developing since. The film purposefully ignores most important critiques in order to build a project in which the curator is shown as this almost holy presence who works hard and has to sometimes deal with the unfair/ungrateful response of locals. Documenta was a colonial project from the very start; it was never interested in local discourse. With this film, the colonial approach continues, as it provides yet one more opportunity to show a one-sided history.

The length of the film is off-putting. But when you see it, it is surprisingly entertaining. You learn a lot about work processes and society and at the same time the film's cinematic design is reminiscent of great cinema. A very pleasant and not so familiar way to experience culture. You realise that you see the news from one perspective and judge events the way they are presented by the media. Here you see the other perspective, the situations that caused the later news and polemics. And understand how the media works. But that's not all, there are also wonderful scenes reminiscent of Italian cinema with Mastroianni and Lollobrigida.