“I am from nowhere“, Andy Warhol used to reply when asked about his origins. His mother Julia Warhola emigrated to the USA from such a “nowhere” in 1921: from the 150-soul village of Miková in eastern Slovakia, on the border with Ukraine and Poland. In search of the Pop Art painter’s roots, television crews from all over the world began flooding the tiny village. The media hype has left its mark: since then, the inhabitants of Miková have been dreaming of their own 15 minutes of fame.

I am from Nowhere traces the consequences of this upheaval, interweaving the individual fates with media reflection, which includes knowledge of the previous films, the integration of different formats (video and film) as well as the astonishing appearance of typical Warhol subjects in a completely different setting. The painter is only a point of reference for the actual protagonists of the film: the inhabitants of the small village are gripped by a longing for a better life, for wealth and fame, a longing that is mixed with a vision of America – which, of course, is only fed by the images of satellite television, which brings the big world into the small village. “I am looking forward to being on TV, because maybe somebody will envy me for being so famous, because of Andy Warhol, my cousin,” says one resident. The communist ex-mayor, for example, has already presented his own “art” work, the “World Tractor”, composed of a Trabant engine, Mercedes axle and Czech differential gear, dozens of times for film and TV.

The main character of I am from Nowhere took up the camera himself to realize his personal American Dream: Jozef Keselica, whose video diary forms its own narrative thread. He is one of the few people in the region who manages to travel to the USA, but everything turns out quite differently than expected. I am from Nowhere also tells of how visions, especially those fed by the media, can be deceptive, but are nevertheless vital. The quiet humor of the film is due to the tragicomic discrepancy between the overconfidence of its protagonists, spurred on by their sudden fame, and the facts of their “forgotten” existence. The at times almost surreal events in Miková become a reflection of universal human desires, the small village a global village. In the contradictory narratives of its protagonists, I am From Nowhere also reflects the strange processes by which these collective dreams are created. What at first glance appear to be opposites are productively brought together by cleverly integrating the film’s own recording apparatus into the action. Miková’s inhabitants know that another eighty minutes of fame belong to them in front of this camera.

Regie: Georg Misch
Buch: Georg Misch, Silvia Beck
Kamera: Silvia Beck
Schnitt: Michael Palm
Musik: Mikhail Alperin
Ton: Marian Gregorovic, Rudolf Potancok, Georg Misch, Peter Gajdos
Redaktion: Martin Pieper, Anthony Wall, Lea Gallova
Produktion: Gunter Hanfgarn, Johannes Rosenberger, Martin Rosenbaum
Koproduktion: Navigatorfilm (Wien), Lone Star Productions (London)
Sender: ZDF/arte, BBC, Slovak Television
Förderer: Wiener Filmfonds

Festivals:

Locarno (Schweiz)

Hof

Bratislava (Slovakien)

Saarbrücken

Duisburg