Industrial music riles up the masses against the oppressor in notorious German cult film.
F.M. (F.M. Einheit from Einstürzende Neubauten) finds out that a popular hamburger chain hides subliminal propaganda messages for consumerism and obedience in their soothing background music. When he replaces that music with his own electronic ‘industrial’ experiments, he unleashes a revolt against the government.
Decoder, a long-lost cult film from the German industrial underground music scene, is part of our theme programme 1984 Re:Imagined. A proto-cyberpunk classic, shot on 16mm, with deliciously crafty analogue technology, an oppressive totalitarian state and sleazy streets full of neon and peepshows. The cast boasts many notorious celebrities from that era, including Christiane F., known for her autobiographical book on addiction; William Burroughs, legendary Beat-author of Naked Lunch; and Genesis P-Orridge, performance artist and occultist from the band Throbbing Gristle. Of course there’s a killer soundtrack, featuring the likes of Soft Cell, Psychic TV, Einstürzende Neubauten and The The.
Introduction: Florian Cramer
The Imagine screening of Decoder on 26 October will be introduced by Florian Cramer, practice-oriented research professor in 21st century visual culture at Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam. Cramer grew up in 1980s West-Berlin and collaborated with the editors of the Italian 'Decoder' magazine at the 1989 Festival of Plagiarism in Glasgow. Among his forthcoming publications is a short essay on F.M. Einheit, Decoder's leading man.
