Kurzzeit

Kurzzeit is a 2015 German satirical television film directed by Christian Zübert. The film is a critical commentary on the culture of remembrance in Germany, specifically the compulsion to remember and commemorate the Nazi regime's atrocities.

The story revolves around a family who wins a prize in a drawing and receives a stay of three days in a government-mandated concentration camp visitor center. The family's reluctance to face their own reminders of the past leads to a series of absurdist and tense interactions with the camp's tour guides and the government sponsors who have invested heavily in the visitor center.

By satirizing the way Germans are forced to confront their nation's dark history, Kurzzeit critiques the superficial nature of national remembrance. The film portrays a sense of listless reluctance, rather than passion or engagement, in visitors to the concentration camp visitor center. The film's satire is directed at both the empty state propaganda and the way some citizens go through motions to be seen to participate.

Kurzzeit was praised for its biting and intelligent satire. Critics were impressed by the way the film captured the manufactured indifference that pervaded the human presence in the camp visitor center.