Open Call: The Whisper of the Chairs
A project by Max Färberböck.
Become part of a unique project.
On 26 September 2026, acclaimed film director Max Färberböck, in cooperation with Kampnagel and the Kunstverein Hamburg, invites 300 people to take part in an extraordinary artistic project.
For 16 hours, all participants will share the same space—without a script, without roles, and without direction. Nine cameras will observe what unfolds, but there will be no microphones. At the heart of the project is the quiet presence of each individual.
This one-of-a-kind event will result in two films: a 16-hour full-length version and a 6-hour theatrical version, which will be screened in selected cinemas across Germany.
Key Information
Project Dates
Sat, 26 Sept 2026, 10:00 AM – Sun, 27 Sept 2026, 2:00 AM
Location
Kunstverein Hamburg
Participants
Approx. 300 people
Minimum Age
20 years
Open Call
Sat, 29 Aug 2026, from 10:00 AM
Kampnagel, Hall k6
Jarrestraße 20
22303 Hamburg
Open Call Registration
Please click here to register and select your preferred time slot.
For further information, please contact stuehle@kampnagel.de.
Max FärberböckEvery person is unique and carries their own poetry within them.
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What is it about?
What unfolds over these 16 hours has little in common with what we know from film, television, or theatre. There are no actors, no storyline, and no dramatic staging. Instead, the project focuses on something we often overlook in everyday life: the uniqueness of every human being.
Each person brings their own story, memories, hopes, and contradictions. Inspired by the phrase "Every face has its own knowledge," Max Färberböck has conceived a film about human presence—about that which cannot be performed.
The camera operators observe with patience, sensitivity, and respect. They are not searching for spectacle, but for moments: glances, gestures, encounters, and the quiet poetry that belongs to every individual.
At a time when artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly capable of imitating faces, voices, and movements, this project offers a counterpoint. It asks not what people look like, but who they are. A person's experiences, memories, and lived life remain irreducibly their own.
The vast space is silent.
No one knows what is about to happen.
Nine cameras. Sixteen hours. Three hundred people. Countless stories.
Perhaps, at some point, you'll forget the cameras are there—and something inside you will say: Yes. This is me.