What Time Is It There? (35mm, OmdU)

In the organizer's words:

Director: Tsai Ming-liang | France, Taiwan 2001 | 116 min | 35mm | original version with German subtitles | with Lee Kang-sheng, Chen Shiang-Chyi, Lu Yi-ching

What Time Is It There begins with a miraculous encounter: Chinese woman Shiang-chyi wants to go to Paris and is looking for a wristwatch with two different dials that will tell her the time from home. The young street vendor Hsiao Kang (Lee Kang-sheng) is wearing just such a watch. Although he doesn't want to sell his watch at first, his thoughts about Shiang-chyi are so intense that he starts to change all the watches in Taipei to Paris time in order to be closer to her. Shiang-chyi in Paris also experiences strange things in this silent film poem about time, the present and absence. The montage of "Taipei" and "Paris" creates the subtle humor of this masterpiece in cinematic touches across the geographical distance. The two main characters are also linked by their own reference to Truffaut's Les quatre cents coups (1959). A film that, in a strangely quiet way, announces a harmony that spans the globe (Walter Ruggle).

Loan of the film print with the kind support of the HfG Karlsruhe.

Supporting film: Kammerflimmer Kollektief - Night Watch, September 15
Director: Bernd Schoch | Germany 2006 | 6 min | HD Video | Without dialog

A music video for the Karlsruhe band Kammerflimmer Kollektief: a nocturnal ramble through the city and a look into the windows of others. It's no secret that Kammerflimmer Kollektief and Bernd Schoch are close: they contributed the music to some of his films, most recently to Olanda, which won the dokKa Prize of the City of Karlsruhe in 2019. In return, Bernd Schoch gave them this music video, which, after a long drive through the dark night, finally discovers the band in one of the many windows and sits down in front of it.

We are very pleased that Bernd Schoch will be present in person on this evening. He will briefly introduce his film and say a few words about it.

Loan of the film print with the kind support of the HfG Karlsruhe.

Free admission | Donation requested

Click here for the screening:
https://kinoimblauensalon.de/de/events/what-time-is-it-there-2026-02-27

Price information:

Free admission | Donation requested