Competition

THE DECOMPOSITION OF THE SOUL
LA DECOMPOSITION DE L'AME



Country of production: Belgium
Year: 2003
Language: German
Mins: 82

Directors: Nina Toussaint, Massimo Iannetta
Script: Nina Toussaint, Massimo Iannetta
Cinematography: Remon Froment
Editing: Sandrine Deegen
Sound: Paul Oberle, Olivier Vanderaa
Producer: Martine Barbe
Production company: NDR
Source: Karine de Villers
Centre de l'audiovisuel a bruxelles
19F Avenue des arts
1000 Bruxelles
BELGIUM
Phone: +32 2 227 22 30
Fax: +32 2 227 22 39
cba@skynet.be

"The operative's psychology is to be besieged using procedural processes, interrogation and prior intelligence, so as to penetrate the enemy's inner workings. In this way, knowledge is gained regarding the thoughts, feelings, behavior patterns and psychological traits of the adversary, which may provide precious keys in his dismantling and liquidation, in gaining influence over him, and in his decomposition and recruitment..." - a brief extract from the chillingly brutal working guidelines for the staff who worked at the central preventive prison for political prisoners of the Ministry for State Security (the STASI) in Berlin's Hohenschoenhausen district under the former East German regime.

In this extraordinary film, two former inmates return here, to the scene of their detention, and confront the horror of their experiences. Akin in many ways to such other awesome and grueling documents of detention as SHOAH and S21: THE KHMER ROUGE KILLING MACHINE, THE DECOMPOSITION OF THE SOUL is a harrowing return to the dark reign of the Stasi.

Nina Toussaint was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1964. She studied filmmaking in Brussels, Belgium, and communication in Nice, France.

Massimo Iannetta was born in Scapoli, Italy, in 1960. He studied filmmaking and philosophy in Brussels. Since 1994, he has interviewed victims of Nazism for the Auschwitz Foundation.

filmography as directors
THE DECOMPOSITION OF THE SOUL (2003)
ORDINARY CRIME (1994)
TWINS (1992)
THE STORY OF A DISAPPEARED (1989)

Tuesday 06-Apr-2004 7:00 PM Facets Cinematheque