SXSW Film Preview: Marwencol

The SS that attacked Marwencol were killed and hung upside down in town. This was to show any other Nazis the treatment they would receive if they messed with us. Anna felt like it was the perfect backdrop for our wedding pictures. - Mark Hogancamp

Ten years ago this April, Mark Hogancamp was jumped from behind outside of a bar and brutally beaten into a brain-damaging coma. Amazingly, he pulled through, but his memories did not come with him. It is not unheard of for a person who has suffered life-altering trauma to create a fantasy world that they can safely inhabit, but Hogancamp took his thearpuetic outlet one step further: he created an entire tangible community in his backyard.

You see, Hogancamp was in the US Navy, and Marwencol, the name of this fantastical Belgian town created to 1/6th scale, is inhabited by posable dolls, dressed in either WWII era American or SS uniforms, that he names after real people in his life. There is Colleen (The "Col" in Marwencol), his old neighbor and the first woman he fell in love with after the violent attack, there's Anna, Mark's ex-wife, there is even a doll that carries a tiny film camera that represents director Jeff Malmberg. And of course there is Hogie, who represents Mark himself, with an ever-present tiny cigarette in his hand.

More about the film, screening times, and trailer after the jump!

Before the attack, Hogancamp was a talented artist, able to sketch anything that came to mind, but after his recovery he discovered that he could no longer hold his hand steady enough to draw, which is why, after the money ran out for his therapy, he started working with dolls. The smaller parts and dextertity needed to outfit and pose each character has helped him regain cotrol of his fine motor skills, while also giving him a place in the world where he can always feel safe. Hogancamp painstaikingly documents the scenes that play out in the town of Marwencol with a small camera, and the photos are some of the most strikingly beautiful images in the documentary.

Marwencol truly surprised us; from the word go we were completely fascinated with the world that the eccentric Hogancamp has created for himself and the geniune love and tenderness he shows to these dolls. Sometimes you wonder whether or not Hogancamp can distinguish between what goes on in Marwencol and what happens to him in his own physical realm, and on the troublesome days he certainly takes out his own anger and frustration on the dolls representing SS officers, complete with bloodied bullet wounds and crushed skulls. When someone in town stumbles upon Hogancamp's photos, which are all quite stunning, he suggests to Mark that he should show them in a gallery, which creates an interesting dramatic tension in the film, not knowing how Hogancamp is going to react to not only other people judging what is so incredibly dear to him, but also not knowing how he is going to react to the outside world in general.

We couldn't help but think of Henry Darger and other outside artists while watching Marwencol. Mark Hogancamp is a survivor who has created something incredibly beautiful out of a terrible situation and we are so glad that Malmberg captured the quiet determination of this man and is sharing it with us. We highly recommend that you catch one of the three screenings.

Marwencol screens Saturday, March 13th at 2:30pm at the G-Tech Theater at the Austin Convention Center, Sunday, Mar 14th at 11:15am, at Alamo South Lamar 3 and Friday, Mar 19th at 1:15pmat Alamo Ritz 2. For the full schedule, see my.SXSW or B-Side.