HAUS 209 (House 209) tells the story of a woman who is used in a dystopian experiment of travelling to the “world beyond”. The woman is a prisoner in a clinic in a crisis-torn country. Scientists research the possibility of travelling to the “other world” with the help of radioactive capsules. Test subjects are sent to the “beyond” to get advice from the “voices” of how to solve humanity’s problems.

The film is constructed of still photos from various stays at the HELIOS-clinic for radioactive iodine therapy after thyroid cancer, of found footage from the 1950s, and of microscopic images of cells and inner-body activity. Sound recordings from the interior of the clinic ward mix with electronic blips and beeps, with Geiger-counter clicks and excerpts of songs by Debussy.
The film refers to Marker’s “La Jetée”, while the film’s title refers to the ward in the clinic Berlin Buch, where thyroid cancer patients are given their radioactive iodine therapy.

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