STILLE STADT (trans. Silent City) depicts the state of contemporary urbanity through an Everyman on the verge of a mid-life crisis, who goes through his life of routine both stricken and sustained by opera arias, that stand in for his thoughts and emotions that only he (and the audience) can hear. STILLE STADT in an allegory of modern existence that blends the real with surreal to explore how urban dwellers lose their connection with the environment, people, and praxis; and the suppression and containment of those lost connections by consumerism, distraction, and interiorization. STILLE STADT is an update and inversion of the city symphony form (exemplified by Dziga Vertov and Walter Ruttman), transforming the celebratory and voyeuristic city impressions into narrative vignettes that peel away issues of contemporary urbanity through the eyes of an Everyman. The film reframes and re-imagines the form of silent film to convey how the city silences (via containment of the self/body), and is made silent (as people dwell in own bubbles).
