Austria’s Indirect Cinema. Avoiding representation in Kurz davor ist es passiert (2006)

ABSTRACT Contemporary documentary films are faced with the challenge of an oversaturation of certain images that have lost all power. One strategy to address this issue is the employment of artifice, the obvious and unconcealed manipulation of images. Films of what I call Indirect Cinema escalate this strategy by avoiding direct representation altogether. One example of this development is the film Kurz davor ist es passiert (2006) by Anja Salomonowitz about human trafficking in Austria. The film showcases stories of different instances of human trafficking that are not told by the victims themselves; instead, random Austrians recite their statements verbatim while carrying out their everyday tasks. The artifice of the scenes disrupts the reception by emotionally distancing the viewer from the suffering of the victim. Transferring the statements from one medium, and from one body, to another avoids an overwhelming emotional response. The forced dislocation of the viewer allows a space of critical awareness to emerge in which one can reflect upon the politics and boundaries of representation. After a brief overview of Direct Cinema and Cinema Vérité as a point of departure, I give a close analysis of Kurz davor as a paradigmatic example of Indirect Cinema.