“The making of Berlin” : Art playing with truth

The making of Berlin is a film and a play produced by the BERLIN collective. We saw it in Waregem, Belgium in CC de Schakel. It ends a fifteen-year series in which the group made portraits of multiple cities. The film is mixed with live music : a woman was playing the French horn behind a transparent screen. 

The public follows a team of directors who are producing a show. The movie begins when they meet an old man, Friedrich Mohr. Some key encounter during the show will make them rethink the entire project. The BERLIN group offers a beautiful but complex realisation around the concept of truth, especially in art. 

The show truly set an ambiance in the theatre. The way it is realised with all the close-ups but also the background music makes it completely immersive. Wagner’s classical but fervid music accompanies us from the beginning to the very end. It honestly feels like a police investigation, where we were uncovering the story at the same pace as the team. It was really well done and did us questioning the authenticity of the story. 

We can tell the public definitely liked the show from their reaction : we could constantly hear people laughing, gasping and also sounding confused. The show conveyed many strong emotions : “We looked at each other and got goosebumps” said Jeremy and Ansa, two teeNEXTers.

What makes a documentary and what makes a fiction is lying?

Beyond emotions, the show makes the viewers question the line between what is real and fake. During the research of the team, we lose track of reality. That causes confusion in the audience : “I have to admit I was confused because I didn’t know what I was watching”, said Jérémie. And that’s the point! In the after show we could ask the director some questions. He stayed unclear about what was genuine. 

« I was confused because I didn’t know what I was watching”

Jérémie

The idea was to explore what differentiates a documentary from fiction, where or when should we draw the line of truth in art. It makes us even wonder whether truth is necessary or not, if it is the purpose of art. This movie is presented as a middle ground between art and journalism. The line between both is often thin so we can get confused between what is fact and what is fiction. 

Han (Belgium) & Milane (France)