IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT (2006)

Someone turns on a camera and begins a monologue about the separation of our time. The protagonist does not want a relationship with the imaginary counterpart and justifies it extensively. He seems quite comfortable in his self-staged relief of conscience. The relationship conversation, resembling a one-man show, takes its course. Initially undoubtedly superior, he mutates, in his speech, where the phrases almost repetitively resemble mantras, into a pitiable victim on the self-accusation bench. The dishonesty and interchangeability of the sentences make this chamber play absurd for the viewer. (Ute Jungert)

With the help of an actor, Christlieb takes a humorous look at the phenomenon of relationship-less urban thirtysomethings. She has him speak her personal emails that she received from multiple men with whom she had affairs. The overlap and indistinguishability of the individual characters, who all use the same phrases and excuses, reveal an emotional breakdown that one must assume is socially rooted in today’s society.