Event

NEKRomantik

1987, dir. Jörg Buttgereit
With Dakatari Lorenz, Beatrice Manowski, and Harald Lundt

Centering around the bizarre love triangle of a necrophiliac German couple and their newly obtained corpse, NEKRomatik became infamous for its transgressive subject matter. Using necrophilia as a metaphor for the denaturalization and dehumanization of contemporary society, director Jörg Buttgereit sought to expose the underlying psychology of those desperate to control others because of their own feelings of overall powerlessness.

Originally released on VHS, NEKRomatik was only made available due to video rental stores' desire to offer the largest catalogues possible. European directors like Buttgereit took advantage of this, using the VHS market to create a new kind of social commentary that resonated with audiences throughout the globe. NEKRomatik now stands among the most talked-about independent international films.