The readings will take place in Zwinger 3. They will also be available to watch via livestream and on video following the events.

»Ghostbike« by Julie Guigonis
It could be the night of all nights. It's Rocky's birthday. And everyone is there: Giorgios, Rocky’s best friend. Rocky's cousin. Even Monika König of »Café König« where Rocky did his apprenticeship. And the truck driver who hit Rocky. Because Rocky himself is missing from his birthday party. He died during an accident on the spot where the cycle lane on the pavement merges with the street and when he was in the blind spot of a truck turning right. On the »racing tracks« of social media, people point the finger of blame and call for political consequences, while cousin and Giorgios, driver and König celebrate Rocky's birthday in their own way.

»PRESSURE!« by Arad Dabiri
Vienna. Around 2023. After an unsuccessful deal, Dadash is on trial. The verdict: not yet clear. His siblings Shirin and Hassan as well as their friends Omar, Murat and Freddie, the WhatsApp group »street dogs«, are waiting for the final verdict, but with very different views on the possible consequences. While Shirin sees Dadash’s future in the inevitable rise of resistance against »expected integration«, Hassan's sense of responsibility for a community and his criticism of everyday discrimination combine to create a fuse leading to a protest against right wing populism. In a sensitive and precise analysis of systemic injustice, the last deal turns into a last blow.

»Silk Child« by Leonie Ziem
Judith doesn’t love humans anymore. She uses her inheritance to buy an ice cream shop and a sex robot. An Artificial Stupidity, smarter than AI, with early childhood traumata, coarse language and its own will. After some time, the sex robot leaves Judith and she succumbs to her heartache. And that while Judith wanted to show everyone that love beyond your own species does exist, that it does not matter whether you’re made of lithium ions or red blood cells, silicon flesh or fat cells! But the minds of the protesting public are divided on that issue. Caught between her own feelings and the pressure to justify herself, at some point, Judith gets lost in the tempting oversupply of digitization.


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