A fascinating film essay about people and their hope for change
When power is exposed, the people rise up: in his film essay "The Naked King", Andreas Hoessli takes us on a philosophical search for the enthralling pull of revolutions. Why do they intoxicate entire peoples? What is it that makes them so fascinating? Sam Riley guides us through the film as narrator. Awarded the main prize at DOK.fest Munich in the "DOK.international Main Competition" series.
1979, Revolution in Iran. 1980, Revolution in Poland. The fall of the Shah, the 'King of Kings' in Iran, mass strikes and the Solidarność trade union movement in Poland. What was going on in the minds of the young women and men who were involved in the revolutions at that time? What was going on inside them when the revolution was crushed or – as in Iran – a religious-authoritarian elite took power? Director Andreas Hoessli was living in Poland at the time as a research fellow. There he met the prominent writer Ryszard Kapuściński, who was a reporter covering the revolution in Iran. Kapuscinski's notes form the starting point of the film narrative, in which Hoessli also discovers that he himself was being monitored by the Polish secret service at the time and was even to be recruited for its machinations.
"Revolution is an adventure of the heart. Man shakes off fear and feels free." Ryszard Kapuściński
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Festivals / film awards
- 2020: Iranian Film Festival Zurich, CH
- 2020: It's all true International Documentary Film Festival Brazil, BR
- 2019: Camerimage International Film Festival, PL, Competition
- 2019: DOK.fest München, DE, Top Prize VIKTOR Main Competition
- 2019: Internationales Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg, DE
- 2019: Kasseler Dokfest, DE
- 2019: MOVE IT! Filmfestival, Dresden, DE
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