Signal - Germany on the Air

The power of the recorded image and of memory is the central concern of Ernie Gehr and Warren Sonbert's cinema. Signal - Germany on the Air (1985) was shot in Berlin, where Gehr was an artist-in-residence. The silent camera frames and records the street scene in a series of static shots. Gehr's exquisite timing and sure composition, together with the editing and repititive play of images, destabilize the humdrum scene and create a place of memory. The soundtrack, recorded off the air, heightens this effect (pressbook)