This Suffocating Now

Forum Expanded 2026

At a time when elements of fascisation are becoming ever more apparent, ever more pervasive, artist Vika Kirchenbauer takes a personal look at what is in the air in present-day Germany. This Suffocating Now witnesses the historical present as a condition marked by vectors of violence that have continuously and habitually existed, and puts its focus on the fault lines that have most explicitly exposed the illiberal underbelly of a liberal state and society in recent years: Palestine solidarity as well as queer and trans rights. Drawing from a vast variety of source material, the 16-minute essay film flows in an uneven rhythm through still and moving imagery. Observations from the past three years – such as the increased police presence and recurring police violence, which Kirchenbauer captures from her balcony in Berlin – are viewed within a broader German historical framework. Over mundane images of her home improvement efforts, the artist problematises her own social ascent to becoming a university professor and civil servant. This personal reflection serves as an entry point to addressing the intimate relation between state and contemporary art in the German cultural system as a whole.

by Vika Kirchenbauer (Director, Screenplay) Germany 2026 English 16' Colour World premiere | Documentary form

Crew

Director	Vika Kirchenbauer
Screenplay	Vika Kirchenbauer
Cinematography	Vika Kirchenbauer
Editing	Vika Kirchenbauer
Music	COOL FOR YOU
Sound Design	Vika Kirchenbauer
Producer	Vika Kirchenbauer
Executive Producer	Vika Kirchenbauer

Produced by

Vika Kirchenbauer

Berlin, Germany

Photos

Vika Kirchenbauer

Vika Kirchenbauer is an artist, writer and music producer living in Berlin. Comprehensive solo exhibitions of her work have been presented at institutions including the Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen in Düsseldorf and the Kunstverein Kevin Space in Vienna. Her videos have also been exhibited at the Whitechapel Gallery in London, the Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen, the New York Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, among others. Two monographs combining the artistic and theoretical strands of her practice have been published by Mousse Publishing. After Untitled Sequence of Gaps (2020), this is her second participation in Forum Expanded.

Filmography (selection)

2012 Like Rats Leaving a Sinking Ship 2014 Please Relax Now 2015 You Are Boring! · She Whose Blood Is Clotting in My Underwear 2017 Welcome Address 2018 The Island of Perpetual Tickling 2020 Untitled Sequence of Gaps; Forum Expanded 2020 2021 The Capacity for Adequate Anger 2024 Compassion and Inconvenience 2026 This Suffocating Now; Forum Expanded 2026

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2026