Signal - Germany on the Air

Directed by Ernie Gehr

"The radio waves could be the breeze stirring the trees. The pedestrians swim and bob among these visceral transmissions; the total image seems suddenly so ethereal that the film's title, taken from a 1940s pulp magazine, becomes fact. Is the sound emanating from the phone booths or contained inside people's heads? As usual Gehr uses the simplest possible means to effect a subtle derangement in perception. Signal—Germany on the Air is a substantial addition to an oeuvre which is already among the most impressive in American film." - J. Hoberman