Wegen Hegel
Director:Popo Fan
Screenwriter:Popo Fan
Cast:Zenghao Yang, Julian Moritz
Producer:Junus Baker、Daniel Tenné
Cinematographer:Till Beckert
Running Time:15mins
Region:Germany, Taiwan China
Year:2023
Language:Germany, Taiwan China
Production Company:70Steps
SYNOPSIS
“The real is rational, and the rational is real”, says German Philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. But when the pandemic hits Germany, everything changes. Chinese student PING just started his philosophy studies and faces many obstacles: hostility, loneliness, lockdown. On a dating app he receives spicy photos from MAX, who proposes a “social distance hook-up”. Ping is excited and embarks on his adventure. Offered a mysterious drug, he is about to have sex, when he suddenly notices a book by Hegel. It sucks him into a drug induced reflection about free will and reality, which kills the vibe of the moment. He flees after an argument and loses himself in the drug experience. The next morning, he makes another unexpected discovery – and all that because of Hegel (Wegen Hegel).
Director Biography
Popo Fan is a filmmaker, writer, and activist from China, where his queer documentary films have made a notable impact. Since 2016, he has concentrated on writing and directing scripted, sex-positive shorts. He is the co-founder of the Queer University Video Training Camp and has been an organizer of the Beijing Queer Film Festival for more than a decade. Popo was invited to sit on the jury of the Teddy Award of the Berlinale in 2019. He is currently based in Berlin developing his fictional feature debut.
Director's Statement
When I just moved from China to Germany, Hegel’s books were my methodology to understand the new society that I’m in. I was fascinated by hisphylosophy of rationalism. With the breakout of the COVID pandemic it offers even more possibilities to interpret truth and reality. With these inspirations, I wrote and directed “Wegen Hegel”. I believe that in the “post-COVID” time, these captures still reflect our contemporary life in a way.




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