Hinter der Maske - Behind the Mask
Jutta Tränkle
2018 - 54 min - Couleur - Allemagne

Once a year, a whole small town in Southern Germany is losing its mind. Strange sounds like bear roar are heard from behind the corners. Figures in disguise dance around a large fire and punch others with pig's bladder.
Is this "La Cage aux folles" an ancient tradition of a distant tribe? There you're mistaken. It is carnival in Black Forest in the heart of Europe. Some 1800km further south, in a small town in Sardinia, a similar old custom is being retained. The film observes both spectacles from a personal point of view.
Director and camerawoman Jutta Tränkle - herself migrated native - looks behind the scenes and asks: What makes people, young and old, join these crazy days of archaic rhythms in a world where living globally but thinking locally has become the credo?