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Being in Common

Documentary
D/F 2021, 12'32 Min.
  • Written and directed by: Sabrina Dittus
  • Status: Completed
  • Camera: Andreas Schaal
  • Editor: Johannes Denk
  • Production: Sabrina Dittus

Have we lost what we have in common with communism? This question triggered Jean-Luc Nancy’s (1940-2021) reflection on community. What do we still share with each other today? And what exactly does “communitarian” mean anyway?

Communitarian, communism, communication – these terms all go back to the Latin communis: common in the sense of what we share, but also in the sense of the banal, the everyday (the German “gemein” has several meanings: common, mean, banal). And according to Nancy, we have to revisit this idea of commonness (“das Gemeine”) in order to understand what being together or being in common can mean today.

The film was produced for gemeine stadt (common city).

(English version not yet available)