Why hasn’t everything disappeared yet

Artist Moon Sori is traumatised by compulsory military service and feels lost in his new country of residence. Where to put all this pain and longing? An intricate play between (auto)biography and fiction, done in a lyrically ascetic, audiovisually rich and seductive fashion.

The first time Stefan Koutzev filmed a scene with fellow Cologne media arts school student Lee Juho, an animation filmmaker and painter, was for a different project, unrealised so-far. Lee’s cinégénie, though, stuck with Koutzev, out of which he developed the idea for his debut feature Why hasn’t everything disappeared yet, named after Jean Baudrillard’s final essay.

Lee plays artist Moon Sori who’s characterised by the same impulsive behaviour and traumata as Lee, especially the soul-ravaging experiences he made doing compulsory military service. That said: Sori is also a reflection of Koutzev, his sense of being lost between his native Bulgaria and the FRG where he grew up and still lives. Creating the film one scene at a time without a clear-cut script, sometimes following his protagonist and sometimes leading him, discovering the work’s shape and rhythm anew each and every time, Koutzev created a perfect cinematic reflection of spiritual uncertainty – what it means to be a stranger wherever you go.

– Olaf Möller

Trailer

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