A Film of Answers

Film Installation by Peggy and Thomas Henke (2004 – 2012)

The film is based on personal conversations held by Thomas Henke with twelve nuns from the Mariendonk Benedictine Abbey in the Lower Rhine region. The four-hour documentary examines the living concept of the nuns in the order. They consider themselves and their lives as answers in a permanent dialogue with God. A Film of Answers reflects the complex perception of spiritual processes, inner questions and adjustments. It is a reference to the longing for answers to existential questions on meaning, guilt and justice, the possibilities of insight, community and infinity. The responses of the nuns are nonetheless not based on mystified views or dogmatic attitudes, but rather on the immediacy of personal encounter in the framework of the filming process.

A Film of Answers has been shown in many different places in single and group exhibitions since the spring of 2012 (premiered at the Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage site in Essen, Germany). In Salzburg (Austria) alone, over 35,000 viewers saw the film. See Ausstellungen (Exhibitions).

A Film of Answers (dubbed version)

The English synchronisation of A Film of Answers took place in the summer of 2014. The narrator was internationally-known television moderator and journalist, Gundula Gause (ZDF). The film text was translated by renowned literary translator Isabel Cole.

Narrator: Gundula Gause (ZDF)

Speech Coach: Jonathan Westwood (University of Mainz)

Recording and Mixing: Alfred Huff (Studio Tonmeister Mainz)

Translation: Isabel Cole (Berlin)

Production: Thomas Henke

Contact: kontakt@filmderantworten.de