As part of the exhibition “Artificial Paradise? Immersion in Space and Time” we would like to screen Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s sci-fi film “World on a Wire”. The film deals with the downsides of immersion; in particular, the fear of immersion that is too perfect, so that the virtual reality can no longer be differentiated from real existence.

Fred Stiller is the successor to the director at the institute for cybernetics and futurology. The disappearance of security officer Lause triggers many questions in Stiller: What did Lause want to tell him before his disappearance? Why is Stiller the only one who seems to remember Lause? How is all of this connected to project “Simulacron-1”, which simulates human existence? Is Stiller ultimately only a simulation himself?

“World on a Wire” is a two-part television film, broadcasted for the first time in 1973. The film is based on the novel “Simulacron-3” by Daniel F. Galouye from 1964. Fassbinder’s only sci-fi film has not received a lot of attention in the past. For years it only existed in the archives and was not even available on DVD. Now, the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation has restored both parts and last year it was shown at the Berlinale.