How to speak of a revolution, the times before, the times that followed it. Made in 1980 on faded French and Egyptian revolutions, the rarely seen film TROP TÔT, TROT TARD (TOO EARLY, TOO LATE, 104') by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet was proposed through several screenings in 2011 as a timely means to open up and reflect on the events that had recently culminated in revolutions in Egypt and elsewhere. Many commentators praised the film for foreseeing the current, the present, moment. However this screening at Arsenal is meant to take a critical perspective on these claims and to investigate how the film can be positioned in relation to its production process, temporality, circulation, and appreciation.

Introduced and hosted by curators Ala Younis (Amman) and Tobias Hering (Berlin), the screening takes place within the context of the Living Archive project and aims at an open debate with everyone present. The film will be shown in the German version 16 mm print from the Arsenal archive; the discussion will be in English. Beginning is at 4.15 pm.