German Documentary Showcase

Oeconomia + Q&A with Carmen Losmann

Expired March 3, 2021 6:00 AM
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Oeconomia is one of nine feature-length films in the German Film Office’s program KINO! Germany NOW! 2021 Discover New Talent and is available to theaters across the US for special conditions through July 2021. Visit www.kinogermanynow.com for more information.

Our economic system has made itself invisible and eludes understanding. In recent years, we have often had little more than a diffuse and unsatisfactory feeling that something is going wrong. But what? Beyond the distanced phrases of media coverage, which ultimately make it impossible to grasp the monstrous logic behind the basic structures of our everyday lives, Oeconomia sets out with great perspicacity and lucid stringency to break things down to the simple rules, to illuminate the capitalism of the present. A zero-sum game is discernible, a game that places us and our entire world in the logic of an endlessly perpetual increase in capital – no matter how great the cost.


“What is money? What are debts? What are the consequences of both? And how can images be found for them? Layer by layer, Oeconomia reveals how the rules of the contemporary capitalist game systematically precondition growth, deficits, and concentrations of wealth. With praiseworthy shrewdness and rigor, director Carmen Losmann articulates in layman’s terms the more egregious aspects of capitalist economy rendered invisible by the prevalent media coverage. Her striking visual concept contrasts the glass transparency of financial institutions with their reflecting, glittering facades, which are almost completely inaccessible to outsiders.” –Alissa Simon

  • Year
    2020
  • Runtime
    89 minutes
  • Language
    German, English
  • Country
    Germany
  • Premiere
    Berlinale 2020
  • Note
    With English subtitles
  • Director
    Carmen Losmann
  • Screenwriter
    Carmen Losmann
  • Producer
    Hannes Lang, Mareike Wegener
  • Cinematographer
    Dirk Lütter