Sie kommen Nachts

A secret, unauthorised street-art exhibition in the city of Wuppertal in August, 2006. The city is the exhibition space for a group of artists that includes BLU (Bologna), MARE 139 (New York City), ZEVS and JR (Paris) and OS GEMEOS (Rio). They execute massive works of art on the grimy walls and tunnels of the once-thriving industrial city. The 'Schwebebahn' (monorail) and central squares are the sites of illegal happenings. The filmmakers follow the perspective of the artists, and so the film is less a documentary, but rather shows further aspects of perception and appropriation of urban space. We see the signs of a city as they present themselves, what is left behind by its inhabitants and what is added by the artists; sometimes flattering, sometimes irritating. Who was pulling the strings behind the action and the financing of the entire project was always a point of discussion among the artists, an issue also addressed by the film.