Berlin Premier: KURZE ECKE

Sunday in a Hamburg pub. The fact that it's election day is only alluded to casually. There are soccer pennants and old photos on the walls. The punters drink, smoke, chat, do puzzles and play cards. Even the second-to-last loser wins a prize. They are mostly regulars, workers, former seafarers and pensioners - the average age is well above 50. The landlady took over the bar 25 years ago after her husband died. Now, it's in the gentrified district of Großneumarkt - how long will it survive? At a time when traditional pubs are disappearing from the urban landscape, in KURZE ECKE (G 2014) Bernd Schoch spends a whole day observing the bar, its customers and what is happening. A document of a social environment emerges from the banter, the stories and the emphatic black-and-white shots of faces, as well as of a place whose value as a social meeting point and second living room should not be underestimated. (bik) (1.9.)