Ferdinand Khittl’s poetic, mysterious and puzzle-like feature is a meta-documentary that binds together the themes of LIFF 2021’s Kafkaesque Cinema selection: five films that resonate with ideas in the writings of novelist Franz Kafka, screened in partnership with Dr Angelos Koutsourakis on his Arts and Humanities Research Council Project, The Kafkaesque in World Cinema. Five men sit in a dimly lit room, where they must solve a series of obscure documents. Intercut with unique travelogue style footage, The Parallel Street is an early highlight of the New German Cinema and a precursor to Chris Marker’s Sans Soleil.

LIFF's Saturday 13 November screening of The Parallel Street includes an intro and post-screening discussion with academics Dr Angelos Koutsourakis (University of Leeds) and Dr Martin Brady (Kings College, London).

Presented as part of our partnership with Dr Angelos Koutsourakis at the University of Leeds on his Arts and Humanities Research Council project The Kafkaesque in World Cinema.

This film contains graphic footage of a slaughterhouse.