Since the 1970s, Munich has repeatedly been the scene of far-right extremist, racist, and antisemitic terrorist attacks. The struggle to clarify these crimes and to commemorate their victims continues to this day The attacks have left the victims and their families with deep wounds. How can a city find a way of confronting this history of violence and embedding it in its collective memory? The video installation overexposed/underexposed by Mila Zhluktenko and Daniel Asadi Faezi creates a focused space in which to reflect on this question.
The film that forms the centerpiece of the installation was made in Munich in March 2024. Using a single roll of analogue film, the camera captures eight places in the city where people fell victim to far-right, racist, or antisemitic terrorist attacks between 1970 and 2016. Some of these crimes are known far beyond the city limits, others have yet to find a lasting place in the collective memory. Each act of terror has its own story and yet they are all related. The film by Daniel Asadi Faezi and Mila Zhluktenko draws connections between these individual events, opening a new perspective on places that appear everyday to most of us, yet for the survivors, relatives, friends, and families of the victims they are associated with traumatic experiences, pain, grief, and anger.
In each case the film footage was shot at the time the attack happened, ranging from the early hours of the morning (the attack on the Israeli team at the Olympic Games on September 5, 1972, 04:35 am) to shortly before midnight (arson attack on the “Liverpool“ nightclub on January 7, 1984, 11:26 pm). The unedited footage was shot on analogue film. Between each take the roll of film was repeatedly wound back, so that in some places it was exposed multiple times. This technique produces random superimpositions and unexpected light effects. The soundtrack accompanying the images lends the film an additional narrative level. It consists of recordings made both outside and inside the buildings. The film is presented as a loop, producing a continuously repeating narrative, that is disconnected from the historical chronology of the events. The clock in the room jumps to the respective time of the attack conveying the impression that the attacks occurred in the course of a single day. The sound of the clock creates an additional moment of irritation. Past, present, and future seem to overlap as do the scenes of the crimes. This creates a focused space for reflection, contemplation, and remembering.
The installation overexposed/underexposed is an extension of the permanent exhibition Munich and National Socialism and expands on it with a new aesthetic experience. The project is simultaneously intended as a memorial in film, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the attacks.
Brief impressum
overexposed/underexposed
Video installation by Daniel Asadi Faezi and Mila Zhluktenko
A production of the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism, 2025
Artistic concept: Daniel Asadi Faezi and Mila Zhluktenko
Curator and project lead: Anke Hoffsten
Accompanying program
The official opening will take place on May 22 at 7 pm and will be accompanied by an artist talk with the film-makers followed by drinks. The curator Anke Hoffsten will also offer regular introductions to the installation (for dates and times see nsdoku.de/programm).
The following dates are already fixed:
May 8 and 27, June 25, 2025, 4 pm, introduction
overexposed/underexposed
With Anke Hoffsten
May 22, 2025, 7 pm, artist talk & drinks
overexposed/underexposed
With Daniel Asadi Faezi and Mila Zhluktenko
About the artists
Daniel Asadi Faezi
Daniel Asadi Faezi is a film director and producer. He studied documentary film at HFF Munich and at the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan. His films have been shown at many film festivals, including at the Berlinale, in Locarno, and at New Directors/New Films at MoMA and the Lincoln Center, New York. As co-director with Mila Zhluktenko he has made Aralkum, which won the prize for the best short film at Visions du Réel; Waking Up in Silence, which was awarded the special prize of the International Jury of Generation Kplus for the best short film at the Berlinale; and their most recent work, rückblickend betrachtet (In Retrospect), which premiered at the 75th Berlinale. The duo are currently working on their long film debut.
Filmography:
2017 In Search Of (5 mins. / feature film)
2018 The Absence of Apricots; documentary film (49 mins. / hybrid)
2019 Where We Used to Swim; documentary film (8 mins. / documentary film)
2021 Slowly Forgetting Your Faces (80 mins. / documentary film)
2022 Aralkum, co-directed with Mila Zhluktenko (14 mins. / experimental)
2023 Waking Up in Silence, co-directed with Mila Zhluktenko (17 mins. / documentary film)
2025 rückblickend betrachte (In Retrospect), co-directed with Mila Zhluktenko (14 mins. / experimental)
2025 overexposed/underexposed, co-directed with Mila Zhluktenko (13 mins., loop / installation)
Mila Zhluktenko
Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Mila Zhluktenko studied documentary film at HFF Munich. Her films have been shown at several international festivals, including the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, the San Sebastian Film Festival, MoMA’s Doc Fortnight, and at Visions du Réel in Nyon. Opera Glasses won the Goldene Taube prize at DOK Leipzig. Together with Daniel Asadi Faezi she has co-directed Aralkum, which won the prize for the best short film at Visions du Réel; Waking Up in Silence, which was awarded the special prize of the Internationale Jury of Generation Kplus for the best short film at the Berlinale; and their most recent work, rückblickend betrachtet (In Retrospect), which premiered at the 75th Berlinale. Their short feature film Critical Condition was invited by the Semaine de la Critique in Cannes to participate in the competition.
Filmography (short films):
2017 I Love My #Hairlegs, co-directed with Camille Tricaud and Charlotte Funke (2 mins. / experimental)
2017 Find Fix Finish, co-directed with Sylvain Cruiziat (19 mins. / documentary film)
2019 Opera Glasses (23 mins. / documentary film)
2022 Aralkum, co-directed with Daniel Asadi Faezi (14 mins. / experimental)
2023 Waking Up in Silence, co-directed with Daniel Asadi Faezi (17 mins. / documentary film)
2025 rückblickend betrachtet (In Retrospect) co-directed with Daniel Asadi Faezi (14 mins. / experimental)
2025 Critical Condition (24 mins. / feature film)
2025 overexposed/underexposed, co-directed with Daniel Asadi Faezi (13 mins., loop / installation)
