OH, TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK!, 2024
Oh, to Be Able to Speak! tells a story of a woman’s quest for a new kind of role in life. After devoting herself to her husband and his work, she starts observing an unfamiliar sense of freedom, following his death. Navigating this change with both confusion and enthusiasm, she examines the possibilities for redefining her position. She recognises herself while the others deliberately try to forget her. The essay film challenges our expectations and what we think we know about woman’s life. It turns the familiar into something new and leaves us wondering about the roles we take in relation to people around us.
The film is a result of work and research on Marta Feuchtwanger done during an artists residency at Villa Aurora in Los Angeles in 2023.
Oh, to be able to speak!, 2024, HD-Video, 27 min
Written and directed by Monika Orpik
Voiceover Sara Pereira
Editing consultant Łukasz Bieniecki
Script consultant Jakub Gutkowski, Maria Dutkiewicz
Music and sound Szymon Wójcik
Alto saxophone Amalie Dahl
Trumpet Ferdinand Schwarz
Bass flute Lorenzo Colocci
Prepared clarinet Oskar Tomala
Funded and supported by
HFBK Freundeskreis
Studienstiftung des Deutsches Volkes
Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V.
University of Southern California
