HOSTEL is a four-episode miniseries conceived as a crossover between a fictitious docu-soap, game show and Kammerspiel-performance. It takes place in a fully occupied, utterly crammed room in a hostel, which, in addition to the obligatory barren bunk beds and the quoted ‘creative design’, also contains various fitness & workout tools like exercise balls, yogamats, step machine and climbing rope. Against the background of increasing day-to-day racism, celebrity cultism, widespread stereotyping, postcolonial diversity challenges, and the pressures of almighty economics all on the rise, five precariously and flexibly traveling cultural workers of different origin, Apple’s virtual personal assistant, Siri, and several computer-game avatars enter a battle of spoken word, that is largely based on current experiences and dreams of the participating protagonists. As though partaking in joint exercise, all struggle to have their voices heard, but on the other hand a new kind of alliance, or community is forming itself. Their individual stories circulate permanently among all performers, are recited by someone, to be passed to another person, or an avatar. Fragments of songs, films, and theory are cited, advertising mails integrated into the stories, occasionally interferred by scraps of additional voices – a polyphonic and multi-layered, meta-individual narrative emerges, which irritates clear role attributions and sterotypes, rendering them questionable, without taking the brisance of the individual narratives.

◎ Credit

▶ Produced and Directed by: Stefan Panhan

▶ Director of Photography: Lilli Thalgott

▶ Camera Operator Bernese Highlands: Florian Winkler

▶ Performance: Olivia Hyunsin Kim,Serge Fouha, Lisa-Marie Janke, Koffi Emile Odoubou, Anne Tismer

▶Sound Engineer: Tom Schön

▶ Production Design, Costume & Assistant Director: Andrea Winkler

▶ Editing: Lilli Thalgott

▶ Music & Sound Design: Kirsten Reese

▶ Dramaturgical Advice: Jelka Plate, Can Rastovic

▶ Production Supervising: Can Rastovic

▶ Casting: Stefan Panhans

▶ Postproduction: Wolfgang Oelze

▶ Color Grading: Adriel Pfister

▶ Computergame Advice & Special Gaming Footage: Tilman Walther

▶Set Runner & Special Appearance: Kurt Guo

▶Translation Subtitles: Andrea Winkler

▶Avatar Voice: Anne Ratte-Polle

▶Additional Music: »BIEST«, written and composed by Jannik Giger, performed by Vera Wahl, Alexandra Müller, Raphael Holenstein, Lukas Rec

▶Commisioned by: Edith Russ Haus für Medienkunst, Oldenburg

▶Funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg,
Stiftung Niedersachsen, Poolhaus –Blankenese Stiftung