Der Prozess

After this film one has to check whether Austria still is counted as one of the European democracies – the country's bureaucratic judiciary is haunting the animal rights activists who snap at the mistreatment of livestock animals with such Kafkaesque style. The film follows a years-long trial in which the demonstrators are charged with participation in a criminal organisation on the basis of anti-terrorism laws. The investigative measures are in line with the charge: wire-tapping, follow-up, house searches, secret infiltrators and task forces. The Trial was awarded as the best German-Language Documentary Film at the Zürich Film Festival, but the activists who have been found not guilty might still end up at the next instance of the court system. Not even the dark societal humour, typical of Franz Kafka, can be found in these events.
Marko Ylitalo | translation by Asta Mykkänen (DocPoint)