O! FORTUNA! work in progress I-VI

Karin Berger´s film begins with gaudy pink letters: O! Fortuna! The subtitle work in progress draws a connection to the topic of work in the documentary filmmaker´s autobiographical piece. The title originates from Carl Orff´s Carmina Burana. The repetitive rhythm of the choir music drives on the images in an old, urban apartment throughout the entire film. More than twenty years of everyday life pass in the film´s twelve minutes. Living room, a balcony as border to the outside, from time to time the sky, and a view over Vienna. In the form of six miniatures of everyday life, the filmmaker documents her life as a single parent from the birth of her daughter in 1991 to her daughter’s departure from the home they shared. The relationship of image and sound generates a tension that harnesses the film within the coordinates of time, happiness, and work. Words are few, as are contacts. Changes, feelings, and demands are told through gestures, things, bodily routines, and objects. A romper suit, diapers, socks hanging on the line to dry, eggs in the pan, and a chamber pot.