exergue - on documenta 14
Dimitris Athiridis • Greece • 2024 • 848 min. • Digital
SYNOPSIS
“exergue – on documenta 14” follows Artistic director Adam Szymczyk and his curatorial team over two years as they develop “Learning from Athens,” a historic edition of what is considered the world’s most prominent art exhibition, held for the first time in 2017 in Kassel, Germany, and Athens, Greece, the epicenter of Europe’s financial crisis at the time.
The artistic proposal of expansion to two locations was Szymczyk’s bold attempt to explore the institution’s boundaries, challenging the Eurocentric model of art production. It was faced with more than just logistical obstacles that could not help avert a financial deficit. The media scandal that erupted before the closing day obscured the artistic merits of the mega exhibition and further discussions about the content.
Documenta 14 sparked critical controversy and reactions due to its radical curatorial approach, and critical reflection on history, frequently perceived as didactic or instrumentalizing politically urgent issues such as the refugee crisis, neo-liberalization, and the rise of far-right politics globally. At the same time, it was embattled as it raised uncomfortable questions about the art institution’s dependencies on local politics and the funding mechanisms of the art world.
Through the passion of its protagonists, the beauty and power of art, and the unprecedented access this cinematic opus, told in fourteen chapters, invites audiences into a behind-the-scenes observation of the dramatic course of documenta 14 and captures a reflection of the institutional art world and the function of Contemporary Art in a shifting global landscape.
FESTIVALS & ALTERNATIVE SCREENINGS
Berlinale, Berlin International Film Festival | Berlinale Special. Germany (2024)
Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival. Greece (2024)
Cinéma du Réel. France (2024)
BELDOCS Belgrade International Documentary Film Festival. Serbia (2024)
Toronto International Film Festival. Canada (2024)
DMZ International Documentary Film Festival. South Korea (2024)
New York Film Festival. United States (2024)
Doclisboa International Film Festival. Portugal (2024)
Viennale, Vienna International Film Festival. Austria (2024)
Kasseler Dokfest Documentary and Video Film Festival. Germany (2024)
FIFIB, Festival International du Film Indépendant de Bordeaux. France (2024)
Brussels Art Film Festival. Belgium (2024)
Lo Schermo dell’Arte Film Festival. Italy (2024)
Athens Avant-Garde Film Festival | Pre-festival screening. Greece (2024)
Korean Film Archive. South Korea (2024)
PRESS
INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE • by Dana Knight
"This demands to be seen in its entirety, and I truly hope audiences will get the chance to dissect and discuss this absorbing, important work (already neatly divided into hour-ish segments perfect for TV or streaming)"VOGUE • by Lisa Wong Macabasco
"A study in curatorial ambition and deliberative governance."THE ART NEWSPAPER • by David D'Arcy
“... A formidable survey of the challenges facing the contemporary art world as it wrestles with racism, colonialism, politics and power.”The New York Times • by Alissa Wilkinson
“A Thrilling 14-Hour Film About Documenta 14 Is a Radical Act of Transparency”ARTnews • by Alex Greenberger
“Compulsively watchable”Deadline • by Anthony D'Alessandro
“Although a decade in the making, exergue arrives feeling very much of the moment. In a better world, it might stream on Netflix.”FILMMAKER MAGAZINE • by Steven Dollar
"It’s an obsessive, addictively watchable character study of a man on a mission to do something that has never been done before"FRIEZE • Interview by Chloe Stead
“Through its jumbled structure and precision in depicting the curatorial discourse, exergue – on documenta 14 is the opposite of the story of a shipwreck: it is a successful attempt to salvage what demagogy savagely tore down.”CINEMA SCOPE • by Antoine Thirion
“exergue casts light on the difficulties of that specific position for documenta 14’s curators. Artistic director Adam Szymczyk made a concerted effort throughout the exhibition to hold wide-ranging, open discussions about art and culture in dark, disastrous times; writer Paul B. Preciado curated a ‘Public Programs’ strand that made tangible space for these discussions.”MUBI • by Laura Staab
CREW
SCREENWRITER & DIRECTOR
Dimitris Athiridis
PRODUCER
Dimitris Athiridis
CO-PRODUCERS
Yorgos Tsourgiannis
Ioanna Kontogeorgou
(Faliro House)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Christos V. Konstantakopoulos
Andreas Zoupanos Kritikos
Caroline Von Kühn
(Faliro House)
EDITORS
Dimitris Athiridis
Vanessa Zeri
Giorgos Kravaritis
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Ted Regklis
ADDITIONAL MUSIC
Paolo Thorsen Nagel
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Dimitris Athiridis
MUSIC SUPERVISORS
Lauren Marie
Mikus Bruce Gilbert
SOUND EDIT & DESIGN
Dimitris Athiridis
Vanessa Zeri
SOUND MIXING
Kostas Varympopiotis
DOCUMENTA 14 TEAM THAT APPEAR ON SCREEN
Adam Szymczyk
Paul B. Preciado
Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung
Andrea Linnenkohl
Candice Hopkins
Hendrik Folkerts
Dieter Roelstraete
Hila Peleg
Monika Szewczyk
Pierre Bal Blanc
Natasha Ginwala
Erzen Shkololli
Katerina Tselou
Marina Fokidis
Salvatore Lacagnina
Elena Sorokina
Quinn Latimer
Henriette Gallus
Christoph Platz
Paolo Thorsen Nagel
Sepake Angiama
Arnisa Zeqo
Beatrice Hatebur
Eleanna Papathanasiadi
Annette Kulenkampff
Charles Gohy
FESTIVALS & SALES
María Vera (KINO REBELDE)
D14 artists that appear on screen
Ciudad Abierta, Daniel García Andújar, Akinbode Akinbiyi, Nevin Aladağ, Danai Anesiadou, Andreas Angelidakis, Aristide Antonas, Franck Apertet, Rasheed Araeen, Michel Auder, Alexandra Bachzetsis, Fabio Balducci, Rebecca Belmore, Sokol Beqiri, Ross Birrell, Nomin Bold, Pavel Brăila, Miriam Cahn, Agim Çavdarbasha, Vija Celmins, Banu Cennetoğlu, Panos Charalampous, Nikhil Chopra, Marie Cool, Anna Daučíková, Moyra Davey, Yael Davids, Maria Eichhorn, Hans Eijkelboom, Bonita Ely, Theo Eshetu, Aboubakar Fofana, Regina José Galindo, Guillermo Galindo, Pelagie Gbaguidi, Apostolos Georgiou, Gauri Gill, Marina Gioti, Prinz Gholam, Beatriz González, Douglas Gordon, Hans Haacke, Irena Haiduk, Dale Harding, David Harding, Maria Hassabi, Edi Hila, Geir Tore Holm, Olaf Holzapfel, Gordon Hookey, Sanja Iveković, Hiwa K, Amar Kanwar, Romuald Karmakar, Daniel Knorr, Pope.L, Britta Marakatt-Labba, Katalin Ladik, Neil Leonard, Antonio Vega Macotela, Ibrahim Mahama, Narimane Mari, Hans Ragnar Mathisen, Mattin, Angela Melitopoulos, Marta Minujín, Naeem Mohaiemen, Joar Nango, Rosalind Nashashibi, Otobong Nkanga, Kettly Noël, O+A (Bruce Odland / Sam Auinger), Emeka Ogboh, Olu Oguibe, Christos Papoulias, Véréna Paravel, Synnøve Persen, Dan Peterman, Angelo Plessas, Nathan Pohio, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, R. H. Quaytman, Gerhard Richter, Tracey Rose, Roee Rosen, Lala Rukh, Ben Russell, Georgia Sagri, Khvay Samnang, Máret Ánne Sara, Ashley Hans Scheirl, David Schutter, Algirdas Šeškus, Ahlam Shibli, Mounira Al Solh, Annie Sprinkle, Eva Stefani, Elizabeth Stephens, K. G. Subramanyan, Vivian Suter, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Yannis Tsarouchis, Piotr Uklański, Cecilia Vicuña, Annie Vigier, Lois Weinberger, Stanley Whitney, Elisabeth Wild, Zafos Xagoraris, Sergio Zevallos, Artur Żmijewski, Mary Zygouri.