''Das Fest des Huhnes'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

for ''The festival of the chicken'') is a 1992

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n film, directed by Walter Wippersberg. It is a production of the ORF local studio in

Oberösterreich Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

, for the series "Kunst-Stücke" (Art-Works).

Plot

The morals and customs of the "native peoples" of

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

are described by a team of

anthropologists An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

from

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

in the style of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an and American anthropologists in the non-

western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

. While making the film, they discover new cultural phenomena. Wippersberg turns around the research methodology of Western anthropologists of performing ethnologic studies, and then popularising them by means of a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

. The name of the film derives from the discovery that the researchers made, that the churches were vacated, but the locals instead tend to gather in large tents, and drink a yellowish fluid by the litre, while primarily eating

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

and then engaging in a

chicken dance The "Chicken Dance", also known and recorded as Der Ententanz, Tchip Tchip, Vogerltanz, the Bird Song, the Chicken Song, the Birdie Song, the Bird Dance, Danse des Canards, the Duck Dance, El Baile de los Pajaritos, O Baile dos Passarinhos, Il B ...

. The researchers come to the conclusion that the chicken has taken the religious-sacrificial role of the lamb.

Reviews

* The Austrian newspaper

Der Standard ''Der Standard'' () is an Austrian daily newspaper published in Vienna. It is considered a newspaper of record for Austria. History and profile ''Der Standard'' was founded by Oscar Bronner as a financial newspaper and published its first editio ...

claims, "The film presents a wonderfully foreign view of Austrian life (in Upper Austria), with its distanced scientific perspective of an ethnologist. The sarcastic and perfectly developed counterpoint of picture and sound melts into an ironic unity." * The Austrian newspaper

Kurier ''Kurier'' is a German-language daily newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. In 2023, it had an edition of approximately 103,000 copies. History and profile ''Kurier'' was founded as ''Wiener Kurier'' by the United States Forces in Austria (USFA) ...

claims, "Possibly the most original, meanest show broadcast by ORF in 1992; the parody of chauvinistic, interpret-everything expedition films, has reached cult status."

References

External links

*
Walter Wippersberg's home page
1992 films Austrian documentary films 1990s German-language films 1990s mockumentary films 1990s parody films Films set in Austria 1992 comedy films {{Austria-film-stub

Plot

Reviews

See also

References

External links