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RAI FILM Festival takes place on 27-30 March 2025. Learn more.

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Why is Mr W. Laughing?

Directed by Jana Papenbrook

2017 – 76'

Synopsis

Jana Papenbroock with Horst Wässle, Michael Gerdsmann, Bernhard Krebs

WHY IS MR W. LAUGHING? is a portrait of three members of a community of artists with different disabilities. Rather than making a film about inclusion, the film itself was produced inclusively. In an open collaborative journey through the pictorial worlds of the three artists, a focus was set on their aesthetic obsessions and perspectives through their own videography. As a result of the collaborative approach, the film is an eclectic mix of materials and techniques, interview situations interwoven with observational episodes, auto-fiction and performance, home videos of the protagonists and their own musical compositions.

The film was nominated for the EVA Award (Excellence in Visual Anthropology) at Ethnocineca 2017 (Vienna)

**Discounts are available for schools, charities, non-profits, community organisations. Please contact [email protected] for more information**

Watch the trailer: https://vimeo.com/273471329

RAI FILM Festival 2025

The next RAI FILM Festival will take place in person from 27-30 March 2025 at the Watershed Cinema and the Arnolfini International Centre for Contemporary Arts in Bristol (UK) and online throughout the month of April 2025.