Synopsis

In Marseille, Julie’s heart beats wildly when thinking of Rashid. In Tokyo, Satoshi dreams about his adored one who works in a soup restaurant but who doesn’t even know who he is. In Rio de Janeiro, Maria falls for a Telenovela star. In Belgrade, a couple fight for their very existence. In Brooklyn, the thoughts of a black taxi driver lead him into the emotional abyss of jealous love. In Luxembourg, a well-settled gentleman finally comes around to showing his true feelings for a young man... The year-long collaboration between filmmaker Thomas Woschitz and the pop group Naked Lunch gave rise to the idea of telling stories in a combination of film and pop music. This idea was then taken further and resulted in the concept of a choral film with interwoven storylines. And that way an unusual kind of music film evolved. Like a pop song, or an opera, Universalove is a film about big emotions. But, according to the director, what emerges is a musical for people, who would never watch a musical. The compulsory number revue in a musical that moves bodies in dance is substituted with music by the Austrian band Naked Lunch - fine-tuned and perfectly synchronised with the film scenes. The precisely-timed music parts orchestrate and structure the film. They are, when possible, played live to the cinema projection, thereby creating a friction of media between the partially effect-laden and artificial images and the performative directness and impetus of a highly-concentrated rock concert.

Director

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  • Thomas Woschitz
  • Born in Klagenfurt, Austria, Thomas Woschitz studied film in Rome. He has been invited to film festivals including Venice, Locarno, and Cannes with his short and medium-length films, and has also worked on numerous experimental film installations. In 2005, he directed the music film *Closing Time* in collaboration with the band Naked Lunch, and has worked as a film editor as well.

Naked Lunch

Naked Lunch is a four-member band that debuted in Germany in 1991. The band gained significant attention with their albums released in Europe and the United States. They have performed multiple times across Europe, the US, South America, and Russia, and have composed music for various theatrical and film productions.