Otto; or, Up with Dead People

Credits

Screenplay
Bruce LaBruce

Director
Bruce LaBruce

Producer
Jürgen Brüning
Bruce LaBruce
Jorn Hartmann
Michael Huber
Jennifer Jonas

Cast
Jay Crisfar
Susanne Sachsse
Katharina Klewinghause
Marcel Schlutt
Guido Sommer
Christophe Chemin
Gio Black Peter

Synopsis

A modern fable about the loneliness, emptiness, and alienation that results from rampant consumerism and materialism under advanced capitalism, Otto; or, Up with Dead People presents as its central character Otto, a young man who may or may not be a zombie, depending on your point of view. A mash-up of genres and media, Otto is about an alienated youth in an increasingly brutal society. The film is composed of a fractured narrative that includes films-within-the-film, illustrations and text, and even some dance choreography and movement, combined with stock footage and intertitles, to create a new zombie mythology, an allegory for our troubled times.

Reaction

“Otto” is sexy and silly in just the right proportions, a cult item with a real heart."
Nathan Lee - The New York Times

Status

Premiered at Sundance and Berlin 2008.

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