The Visitor

The Visitor

Katarina Schröter

NL / CH / DE
2013
Documentary
74’
Panorama

»A strange myth of our information society suggests that it’s suffcient to be informed in order to take part in society. But most of the information we gather is mediated non-verbally. Our first impression of people is not made through what they say but how they say it – in that we create relations through smell and not through Google. As a performer, I have this bizarre privilege of creating a setting of real experience/encounter instead of referring to some source of information. In The Visitor, I am in the image, I acknowledge the fact that through my pure presence I take part in creating any moment.«
– Katarina Schröter

The Visitor is a silent person in the form of the director herself who roams through the streets of three megacities. In doing so, she provokes random encounters with strangers. On occasions, the encounter takes only a brief moment; on others, she follows a person for days on end. The outcome is open: sometimes, she becomes an intruder, sometimes a friend, who shares the daily lives of her hosts.
What makes a relationship? What do we know about our counterparts? Due to the presence of the Visitor, the loneliness of certain persons becomes even more pronounced. As the intensity of their relationship increases, the boundaries between »I« and »others« is blurred.

Director / Script

Katarina Schröter

Cinematography

Paola Calvo

Editing

Karin Jacobs, André Nier

Sound

Björn Warning

Music

Michael Haves

Production

Katarina Schröter Filmproduktion

Katarina Schröter

Born 1977 in Ulm Katarina Schröter studied drama in Munich and acting in Leipzig. After an engagement at the Dresden State Theatre, she worked as a freelance director, actress and author with a focus on the artistic processing of documentary research. For the Compagnie Fliegende Fische she wrote Haunted which was premiered at the Residenz Theater in Munich. As a fellow of Dasarts in Amsterdam, she began filming in public urban space. From 2010 to 2013, Ms Schröter was employed as director, writer and actress at the Theater Neumarkt in Zurich. Her work has been shown at various international film and drama festivals.


Films by Katarina Schröter
Wanderland 2008 | Encountering the City 2006 | Die Weber – ein Stück Volkskörper 2005