CELLULE 719

In ’Cellule 719’ there is hardly an image to be seen, sometimes we catch a glimpse of water in some corner, but for the most part this film is black. The lines appearing on-screen in grey are derived from ‘Ein brief Ulrike Meinhofs aus dem Toten Trakt’, a letter written by member of the RAF Ulrike Meinhof in 1972 when she had just been emprisoned. In 1976 she was found dead in her isolation cell with the number 719. From the lines an enormous disenchantment and signs of depression become apparent, but at the same time they have great poetical value. Because of the consistent blackness, the undefinable sound in the background and the concentration on the probing lines, the spectator penetrates into Meinhof’s head for over fourteen minutes.