International Premiere
For influential German artist Rebecca Horn, art is anarchy and freedom. Her work spans decades and disciplines — from live performance to sculptures, poetry, and film — but is always recognizable by her unique, surreal vision. An upturned grand piano, suspended from the ceiling, briefly bursts with cacophonous life; a helix of metallic bed frames forms a twisted pillar to the sky; a mechanical peacock moves in uncanny patterns; bodies are cocooned in an uncanny apparatus arrayed with feathers and spider-like limbs. At times unsettling, erotic, and uncanny, Horn’s art aims to escape the daily catatonia of the mind.
In Rebecca Horn – The Secret Life of Things, director Claudia Müller recounts Horn’s extraordinary biography, tracing her artistic evolution alongside her personal journey through life. An essential document of one of the 20th century’s most influential artists, Müller’s film celebrates the unsung legacy of a pioneering visionary.
Content Considerations: Racism
Presented by
Media Partner
Rebecca Horn, Peter Raue, Marina Abramović, Timothy Baum, Nancy Spector, John Baldessari
Germany
2026
In German with English subtitles
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Martina Haubrich
Producer
Martina Haubrich
Screenwriter
Claudia Müller
Cinematography
Christine A. Maier
Editor
Ruth Schönegge
Original Music
Eva Jantschitsch
Claudia Müller
Claudia Müller, born in 1964, is a German documentary filmmaker living in Berlin and Vienna. She is known for her numerous outstanding film portraits, which are primarily dedicated to international artists, and more than 80 women from diverse geographical and cultural contexts have been featured in her ongoing documentary series Women Artists. Müller’s work contributes to an ongoing discussion about identity, gender, sexuality, feminism, female aesthetics, and the visibility of women in art. Her feature-length documentary Elfriede Jelinek-Language Unleashed (2022) was awarded the German and Austrian Film Awards for Best Documentary, as well as the FIRPRESCI Award.
Filmography: Think Big! The artist Katharina Grosse (2020); Heidi Bucher-Transformations (2021); Elfriede Jelinek-Language unleashed (2020); Carson McCullers-Wunderkind (2023)
Photo by Milena Schlösser
Portraits
See more films in this series
Farruquito: a Flamenco Dynasty
Legendary flamenco dancer Farruquito struggles to reconcile his past with his family legacy. Revelling in the artistry of Romani music and dance, Farruquito: A Flamenco Dynasty explores family dynamics and the pursuit of greatness.
Fugs Film!
Originating as a group of New York beatniks, The Fugs' taboo-embracing contempt for social norms made them one of the strangest bands of the 1960s. Fugs Film! is a raucous, irreverent celebration of rebellion, poetry, and counterculture legacy.
Our Mr. Matsura
Part of the first wave of Japanese immigrants to the United States, Frank Matsura's photographs in Okanogan County created a regional legacy that endures a century later. Our Mr. Matsura is a joyful celebration of life revealed through photography.
RADIOHEART: The Drive and Times of DJ Kevin Cole
Featuring a scintillating soundtrack of tunes going back to the ‘70s, RADIOHEART is a heartwarming celebration of one of the greatest radio DJs, Kevin Cole, whose musical tastes and influence are still reverberating across the world’s soundwaves.
James McNeill Whistler
One of America’s greatest artists, James McNeill Whistler fashioned his life as a work of art in its own right. James McNeill Whistler looks beyond his famous portraits and self-styled “nocturnes” to dive into the true depths of Whistler’s legacy.
Rebecca Horn – the Secret Life of Things
Rebecca Horn's extraordinary biography is interwoven with her surreal oeuvre. An essential document of one of the 20th century's most influential artists, Rebecca Horn – The Secret Life of Things celebrates the unsung legacy of a pioneering visionary.
Image: © Rebecca Horn
Agridulce (Bittersweet)
Four aspiring young musicians in the Dominican Republic find fulfilment in the study of bachata music. Tinged with melancholy but full of joy, Agridulce (Bittersweet) is rooted in hopefulness of a bright future through music.
WOLF
Narrated by Tilda Swinton, WOLF contrasts the chaotic wilderness of musician Patrick Wolf’s early career with his current cultivation of a more contemplative life. This is a tender portrait of an artist rediscovering himself to prevail against the odds.