Ausgang: Offen (2020)

Based on extensive research and numerous interviews with people who had near-death experiences, the terminally ill, the dying, their relatives and those professionally involved with the dying and the dead, a highly topical, experimental hybrid between film and immersive 1:1 performance has been created: "EXIT: OPEN" brings repressed feelings and thoughts to the surface and offers the possibility to try and vaguely understand the incomprehensible by sitting face to face with death, staring into its eyes all the while keeping at a safe distance on the other side of the camera lens. Originally planned as a performative installation with Premiere on April 2nd in Vienna, Austria, COVID-19 and the resulting closures and regulations forced the young performance collective DARUM (Laura Andreß, Kai Krösche, Victoria Halper) to re-imagine their work as an experimental film. The camera takes on the position of the audience member and moves from one room installation and performance to another, coming as close as possible to each "face of death" and recreating the initial 1:1 concept filmically. Ideally the film is watched in a darkened room alone.