An Austrian’s cellar is sacred for her. It’s a space for letting obsessions and identities loose, a place to drop all facades between self and the world. If the living room is the home’s showroom, the cellar symbolises basic humanity: hobbies, friendships and even the most unspoken perversions that are acted out literally underground.

The essay-like form of In the Basement blossoms when people reveal their cellars and their innermost secrets and obsessions. The cellar is the most controversial of all rooms – it’s feared but also a haven. If the attic is commonly treated as a repository of old memories, the cellar confronts the most sincere and raw parts in us. In the Basement trespasses areas normally out of bounds and does so in quiet contemplation.

Text: Arttu Manninen / Translation: Tapio Reinekoski

Language: German
Subtitles: English