Klaus Klingler

A description of a day in the life of the 'Sisters of Bethania'. The only convent of this small, contemplative congregation of Dominicans in Austria is situated in the rural remoteness of the village of Nestelbach, near Graz (Styria). Today there are eleven sisters living in a former country-castle, following the determination of their order in strict cloisterly regularity. Significant for the mystic-contemplative existence of the Bethanians are the vivid, daily mechanics and the ritualized form of their life, the sequence and the systematics of practice, introspection, (keeping) silence, change and return of the hourly prayers, of the times of daily work and chores in the house and garden and the silent presence in the chapel.

The film "Into the Emptiness" describes an example of the ritual game of "serfdom" in a "studio for bizarre eroticism". This game comprises a masochistic phantasy in which theguest assumes the role of an obedient slave and servant while the woman employed by the "studio" plays a domina who rules and punishes without mercy.

Farocki’s intriguing and troubling film explores the processes of visual perception and how they affect our understanding of history and society. In a work reminiscent of the writings of Paul Virilio and Michel Foucault, Farocki examines a range of phenomena including aerial reconnaissance photos of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

This film is at once a self-portrait and an homage to Jean-Marie Straub, Farocki's role model and former teacher at the Film Academy.