Abendland (2011): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 2011, Abendland is a notable film directed by Nikolaus Geyrhalter.

What it’s about. Some things can be seen more clearly at night.. . A film poem about a continent at night, a culture on which the sun’s going down, though it’s hyper alert at the same time, an “Abendland” that, often somewhat self-obsessively, sees itself as the crown of human civilization, while its service economy is undergoing rapid growth in a thoroughly pragmatic way. Nikolaus Geyrhalter takes a look at a paradise with a quite diverse understanding of protection. Night work juxtaposed with oblivious evening digression, birth and death, questions that await answers in the semi-darkness, a Babel of languages, the routine of the daily news, and political negotiation: All this has been captured in images with a wealth of details that make us look at things in a new way. The longer you consider a word, the more distant is its return gaze: ABENDLAND.

How it landed. With an audience score of 5.4/10, Abendland has proved divisive with audiences.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on OVID, True Story and DocAlliance Films and rent or buy it from DocAlliance Films. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Abendland page.