Once referred to by George A. Romero as the "lower class citizens of the monster world", zombies have gained increasing popularity in film in recent times. We are taking the increased presence of zombies as the incentive to hold a zombie evening on 30 August. Film and media studies scholars Michael Fürst, Florian Krautkrämer and Serjoscha Wiemer are presenting their book "Untot. Zombie Film Theorie", which brings together numerous articles on the theory and history of the zombie film. The thematic spectrum runs from Jacques Tourneur via George Romero to Bruce LaBruce. Two recent zombie films will be screened after the book presentation: Bruce LaBruce's second gay zombie film L.A. ZOMBIE is a typical mix of sex, violence and social criticism. JUAN OF THE DEAD (A. Brugués, Cuba 2011) is one of the newest zombie films, a bloody comedy celebrating the new revolution which has zombies conquer Havana.

The Living Archive project is supported by the Goethe-Institut in the form of a fellowship program. Our fourth guest participant comes from Rio de Janeiro. In addition to his curatorial work, Joel Pizzini is primarily known as a film director, whose films are situated at the place where curatorial and directorial work come together. They draw on images from film history and allow them to speak anew. From August 27 to 31 Joel Pizzini will be presenting his work, part of which is dedicated to works from our collection.

We are happy to present Wendelien Van Oldenborgh's new film BETE & DEISE (The Netherlands / Brazil, 2012), which has been added to our distribution range. The film shows the encounter between two women in Rio de Janeiro, who each give the public a voice in their own individual way. Bete Mendes is a veteran telenovela actress and political activist, Deise Tigrona one of the key voices of baile funk, whose song "Injeção" formed the starting point for M.I.A.'s  song "Bucky Done Gun". The film came about while Van Oldenborgh was carrying out research on Brazilian cinema and examining the use of gestures in public space as an expression of social conditions. The German premiere screening on August 16 will be attended by the filmmaker.