What Time Is It There? begins with a mysterious encounter: the Chinese woman Shiang-chyi is planning to go to Paris and seeks a watch with two different dials that will show her the time from home. The young street vendor Hsiao-Kang (Lee Kang-sheng) happens to own such a watch. Although he initially refuses to sell it, his thoughts of Shiang-chyi become so intense that he starts setting all the clocks in Taipei to Parisian time in an attempt to feel closer to her. In Paris, Shiang-chyi experiences strange events as well, in this quiet film-poem about time, presence, and absence. Through the juxtaposition of "Taipei" and "Paris," a subtle humor emerges in cinematic interactions across geographical distances. The two main characters are also connected through their own references to Truffaut’s Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959). A film that, in its peculiar quiet way, hints at a harmonious connection that spans the globe (Walter Ruggle).

Loan of the film print with kind support of HfG Karlsruhe.

A music video for the Karlsruhe band Kammerflimmer Kollektief: a nocturnal ramble through the city and a look into the windows of others. It's no secret that Kammerflimmer Kollektief and Bernd Schoch are close: they contributed the music to some of his films, most recently to Olanda, which won the dokKa Prize of the City of Karlsruhe in 2019. In return, Bernd Schoch gave them this music video, which, after a long drive through the dark night, finally discovers the band in one of the many windows and sits down in front of it.

Loan of the film print with kind support of HfG Karlsruhe.