Cinema Archive Detail

January 2012
Public Screening: Films by Ludwig Schönherr
On January 16, it’s that time once again. For this month’s Living Archive public screening we will be viewing four films by Ludwig Schönherr at the request of Marc Siegel: FACE I & II (Germany 1968/69, Super8), ZOMM DOKU (Germany1967-69, Super8), ELEKTRONIK 4 (Germany 1969/70, Super8 on DVD), as well as DAS UNBEKANNTE HAMBURG (Germany 1983-88, 16mm). Ludwig Schönherr began making photographs and paintings in the late 50s. In the mid-60s his interest in the visual arts shifted to film. From 1967-1970, a period of intense productivity in European experimental film more generally, Schönherr made scores of short Super 8 and 16mm films that explored specific technical, aesthetic and representational aspects of the medium. In 2009, Marc Siegel presented parts of Schönherr's Œuvre, which was never shown publically before, as part of the Forum Expanded program. For his Living Archive project he is planning to process the complete Œuvre, which comprises of films, paintings, photographs, objects and several texts.
January 2012
"On the Art of Being Cinema"
The 17th International Bremen Film Conference, held from January 19 to 22 will explore the question "What is Cinema? - Selection, Screening, Experience".
Stefanie Schulte Strathaus will discuss the subject "On the art of being cinema" and present a program called "Por primera vez (For the first time)". This will feature films, videos, an audio work and photography by Agnieszka Brzezanska, Octavio Cortázar, Nam June Paik, Joyce Wieland, Bruce Conner, Keren Cytter, Olaf Nicolai and an unknown photographer. Other keynote speakers include Prof. Dr. Malte Hagener, Cornelia Klauß, Dominique Paini, Prof. Francesco Casetti and Alexander Horwath.
January 2012
New in Cinemas: "Ausente"
AUSENTE from Marco Berger is starting in selected cinemas on January 12. The film which had its world premiere in the 2011 Berlinale Forum where it received the Teddy award for best feature film is about the abuse of an adult by a minor, who is fully aware of his teacher’s delicate position and all too willing to exploit it. Martin finds a whole series of excuses to subtly invade his sport teacher Sebastian’s privacy, ending up spending a night in his apartment. But when Martin’s intentions dawn on him, the teacher has already been compromised. It takes a tragic accident for Sebastian to become aware of his own feelings for Martin. Marco Berger’s original feature film uses the glances exchanged by his protagonists to tell the story. Martin’s unwavering gaze is contradicted by his apologetic body language, which is nevertheless unable to conceal the fact that he wants to breach taboos and move into new territory. Sebastian’s evasive, worried look, on the other hand, reflects the fact that he does not want to see the game that is being played with him.
January 2012
Filmmakers' Choice: Films to Listen
In our new series, filmmakers whose works we distribute present films, both old and new, by their filmmaking colleagues. Karø Goldt is next in line on January 9 with a set of films that are all about listening. Silent films such as BARN RUSHES by Larry Gottheim or TAILS by Paul Sharits have imagery that suggests sound, while EAUX D'ARTIFICE by Kenneth Anger and ALL MY LIFE by Bruce Baillie show the music. What is special is that the silence in the cinema means that the audience's attention can literally be heard or listened to. On top of the 16-mm film classics, Goldt will show her own videos. "Some benefits of listening are presented: as are side effects, which reflect qualities often thought of as being among the most desirable human qualities … If we want to participate, to be connected, we must learn as a priority to listen once again. We need to rediscover The Lost Art of Listening". (R. Glanville) (9.1.)
January 2012
New Release "Utopians"
UTOPIANS by Zbigniew Bzymek is starting in selected cinemas on January 5. The film, which had its world premiere in the 2011 Forum is being distributed by arsenal distribution. It tells the story of three people on the edge: of society, of control, of strength and of collapse. Roger teaches yoga. The relationship with his daughter Zoe, who has just finished her military service, is put under strain by her love for Maya, a young woman who is allegedly a certified schizophrenic. There is tension with the participants of his yoga class when Roger repeatedly comes late and brings along a stray dog. When Roger, Zoe and Maya take on a renovation job on a middle-class home nothing goes to plan and the whole affair is wrought with tension. The different realities that Roger tries to get to grips with, metaphors for Maya’s schizophrenia catch up with him in his yoga class when his belief that "we can make our own time" reaches its limits just as fast as his "feel united with the world around you" notion clashes with social reality. For his feature debut, Zbigniew Bzymek has found a form that is remote from social drama – the outline of a story is sketched in a non-dramatic and non-linear way by scenes that are sometimes separated by fades to black. With an idiosyncratic floating atmosphere and one of the most long-lasting guitar improvisations since "Dead Man."
December 2011
Public Screening: Films by Sally Potter
On December 13th, it's that time once again. For this month's Living Archive public screening we will be showing THE GOLD DIGGERS (UK 1983, 35mm, 89', OV) und THRILLER (UK 1979, 16mm, English with German subtitles) by Sally Potter at the request of Constanze Ruhm. THE GOLD DIGGERS tells the story of two women searching for their own type of gold. "I see the film as a musical that describes a female search. The same questions arose during the work and production process as those which the film attempts to take on: questions relating to the relationship between money, gold and women, the presumption that women are powerless, the search for gold both literal and internal, the visual language of the unconscious and how it is related to the power of film; we call our childhood and memories to mind and view film history as a sort of collective memory of images we have of ourselves and those that are made of us as women." (Sally Potter). THRILLER is a feminist mystery film whose heroine Mimi puts together the facts behind her own death in the opera "La Boheme". The film makes use of a suspense film structure; Mimi's story is supposed to reveal how ideology is produced by fiction, in particular by means of the motifs of romantic love and death, and also aims to make connections between these themes and material production. (Forum Catalogue, 1980)
December 2011
Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing
To coincide with the Andrzej Wajda Retrospective, we are presenting short films from the acclaimed Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing, which was founded by Andrzej Wajda, Wojciech Marczewski and film producer Barbara Pec-Slesicka in Warsaw in 2001 and has set itself the task of supporting young film artists in realizing their projects.
December 2011
Magical History Tour – Film Music and Music Film
What significance does music have in film and what functions does it perform? How does the image behave in relation to music and the music to the film as a whole? It is these questions that we are exploring in this month's Magical History Tour. Film music is a great deal more than just the simple background to a plot, capable of establishing or intensifying atmospheres or feelings of confusion, providing clues and creating emphasis, drawing the viewer into the narrative space or simply overwhelming them. We take in the whole spectrum of film music, starting with the classic period (with Hollywood film music and Hans Eisler's film work forming to some extent the two opposing poles here), moving on to examples of innovative film music and how music can be staged in film. Whether in the concert films STOP MAKING SENSE about the band Talking Heads and BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE WIDE BLUE SEA about the electronic music scene or A HARD DAY'S NIGHT'S ironic assessment of Beatlemania, pop music and film have always been closely linked.
December 2011
Living Archive
Another public archive screening with free entry will be taking place this month as usual, whereby the participants of the "Living Archive" project show unknown or forgotten works and watch them with the cinema audience. The program will be announced shortly before the screening. (December 13)
December 2011
New in Distribution: DAY IS DONE
DAY IS DONE (Thomas Imbach, Switzerland 2011) is a fictional biography of the director. First the smoking chimney, which the telephoto lens draws up close to us. Then the trains, the clouds and the flocks of birds, the panorama of the city viewed through a wide-angle lens. Airplanes. Time-lapse. Slow-motion. Later, dark rain clouds, sun, snow, moonlight. The street in front of the building: warehouses before which junk is sorted, wine is delivered, a party is thrown. Burning cars, a terrible motorcycle accident. A young woman who day for day picks up her mail and the newspaper, crossing into the frame from the left and returning from the right. In all the years, she never seems to notice the man standing at his window with a camera watching her, recording life as it unfolds in front of his studio.

Public Screening: Films by Ludwig Schönherr

"On the Art of Being Cinema"

New in Cinemas: "Ausente"

Filmmakers' Choice: Films to Listen

New Release "Utopians"

Public Screening: Films by Sally Potter

Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing

Magical History Tour – Film Music and Music Film

Living Archive

New in Distribution: DAY IS DONE