In the minutes preceding a radio news broadcast, in countless entries within anonymous online echo chambers, or at the after-party following a play’s premiere – the true dramas often unfold on the periphery. Whether as claustrophobic chamber play of vanity or the lull before the storm on the stage of global politics: 47 films from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland take their stand beside Schiller’s “boards that mean the world,” offering a glimpse behind the scenes.

“That was the critic from the Süddeutsche Zeitung.” Just moments ago, the play’s director, chest swollen with arrogance, was arguing with the unknown woman. Then his actress utters that single sentence – and a wave of furious panic washes over him. At her own premiere party, she has led him straight into the lion’s mouth. But for FINE, the actress, it no longer matters. Conversations with colleagues and admirers feel hollow; behind high-flown words yawns an ignorant superficiality. She sets out in search of a genuine conversation, a tangible moment of human truth.

“We will likely be the first to broadcast this.” With these simple but momentous words, the editor hands a sheet of paper to the newsreader in the radio station. Just then, the telephone rings; the Minister of Defence is on the other end. Naturally, there is no intention to infringe upon the freedom of the press, but perhaps the wording of the report could be slightly “modulated”? DEAD AIR – that dreaded, unintentional silence during a radio broadcast. What is heard, what is said, and what lurks in the depths of that heavy silence?

Code rattles across the screen. Much like in The Matrix, it acts as a cryptic, technical medium shaping a new image in our real world: an internet FORUM – a virtual space where one does not physically exist and, paradoxically, is able to be oneself all the more freely for it. One becomes almost “more human,” yet no longer sees one’s counterparts. People who can be dehumanised in the pursuit of finding oneself. This can serve as a simple release for everyday frustrations, or it can provide a stage for illegal and inhumane acts.