ROCHE UND BÖHMERMANN
LICHTWERKE

Television as it used to be, made new. A talk show format in the spirit of the spoken word. Charlotte Roche, Jan Böhmermann and five guests talk for 60 minutes in front of 100 viewers. In the style of the early talk shows on public television - such as the legendary program "Ende offen ..." - the show does not embellish with a big backdrop and fake smiles, but instead asks simple and honest questions in a reduced space. Social, cultural and political topics are discussed. The focus of the content is determined by the constellation of guests and presenters.

Conceptually, the program embarks on a search for the "truthfulness" of the medium of television, which must first be disenchanted. Microphones, cameras and light are visible. It is openly shown that the medium exists, that it is "manufactured", that it censors, that it embellishes. Television is celebrated as a medium. What morals do the people who create it follow, what morals do those who receive it follow?

The talk show set is reduced to an empty, dark room in which only the most necessary items are provided - without an elaborate stage set: A table with chairs and a light suspended above it. The round table of the War Room in Stanley Kubrik's 1964 film "Dr. Strangelove" was the inspiration for the concept. In this film, a large-volume ring pendant luminaire above the round table is the binding element of a poker round of 36 people negotiating the fate of the earth. The cold and diffuse light of the pendant luminaire intensifies the stark and grotesque irony of this film scene.

The lighting set for the talk show also attempts to achieve a partially comparable lighting design mood. The diffuse and intense light of the pendant luminaire presents the talk show "unsparingly" and is to be understood as a deliberately used stylistic device. The necessary light is emitted from the pendant luminaire via an adjustable stretch ceiling foil. Two contour light lines help the large-format luminaire to be perceived as a solid body in the dark studio. The luminaire made of solid sheet steel housing is suspended from the ceiling on four steel cables. A specially made transport case was supplied for safe storage between recordings. The talk show was awarded the German Film Prize. The jury: "Philipp Käßbohrer and Matthias Schulz have shaped the highly acclaimed ZDFkultur talk show both visually and in terms of content."«

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