On the occasion auf the inauguration of the first forty stars for outstanding protagonists of Ger-man-language cinema and television, Arsenal will present three of the first forty honored persons within the frame of a special viewing at Potsdamer Platz: Asta Nielsen on Sept. 10, Alexander Kluge on Sept. 11, and Doris Dörrie on Sept. 12.

L'Abominable is a self-organized film lab in Paris that since 1996 has been offering filmmakers and artists the means necessary to develop, process, cut, and copy super 8, 16mm, and 35mm films. Members are trained to work independently or realize overseen projects. An extensive ar-chive has been created since 1996, which is accessible for research or curatorial purposes.

"Zur Nachahmung empfohlen! Expeditionen in Ästhetik & Nachhaltigkeit" ("Recommended for Imitation! Expeditions in Aesthetics and Sustainability") is an exhibition project by by Adrienne Goehler (curator) and Jaana Prüss (project director) opening at the Uferhallen Berlin on Sept. 2. On view are artistic practices seeking to contribute to the preservation of the planet and exerting influence on conscious consumer behavior. Sustainability requires expanded perception regarding interaction. For this reason, the borders between artistic and technological creativity, between viability and idea, are deliberately abolished. The film program will be shown at both the Uferhallen and Arsenal.

Faces look at you — everywhere! Visual communication would lack a pivotal element without the representation of the human physiognomy, with the career of facial images in the 20th century being inconceivable without cinema and close-ups. The versatility of the filmic depiction of the face — from the perfectly lit, subjectivizing, and identity-shaping shots of the star's countenance to the de-individualized motif "face" — is at the center of the Magical History Tour in September and October. It starts with a selection of films featuring the most various "stars", whose faces — going beyond their function as a carrier of meaning and attention, as the most prominent interface between inside and outside and the scene of big, often disturbing emotions — have time and again become the projection screen of the audience's dreams.

The four films of the final program part of the film and discussion series, "Moving Politics" curated by Dorothee Wenner und Nicole Wolf, are dedicated to the theme of "Family Ties" and focus on the varied relationships between actual family ties and their fictive counterparts in film. For example, the arranged marriage in India, usually oriented toward collective family interests, is by no means a thing of the past — and therefore a constantly ticking, political time bomb posing a threat to individual desires of the heart. At the same time, family relations are being newly conceived — in, with, and outside of cinema.

Ulrich Weiß is one of the great DEFA directors, one who broke taboos and rules, an independent mind in line with no period or society, a maverick. Breaks occur with him out of necessity: He thinks along different paths than the customary one, far away from conventions. His unbiased, often naïve view of reality frequently leads him to paradoxes, and in paradoxism the tragicomedy often appears. This leads to pictorial solutions and forms that that are surprising, astounding, disconcerting, and disturbing.

For a long time now, Chile has been producing an astonishing number of remarkable films for such a small country. After seventeen long, repressive years with very little culture during the Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990), when cinema itself played no role in the country, Chilean film production had first to be reactivated again. Since then, a lot has happened: Censorship was abol-ished, film schools were founded, and state funding of films was initiated. A young generation of filmmakers has now impressively re-entered the stage of global cinema, with successful presentations at international film festivals. A surprising upswing, even domestically, where Chilean cinema is currently more popular than ever.

The Lebanese video artist Akram Zaatari, whose works have been shown at many international festivals and exhibitions, is currently a guest of the DAAD Berlin Artists Program. Zaatari's entire work is characterized by his dealing with the effects of the civil war. As a collector of images, sounds and objects, he brings to light the invisible history of his country in an archaeological manner and simultaneously examines the codes of representation and image-making in times of war. This reflection is accompanied by a fundamental questioning of the significance of documents. In addition to several works (August 27) dedicated in an aesthetically complex way to resistance in southern Lebanon during the Israeli occupation, Zaatari will present, as a Berlin premiere, his multilayered video essay THIS DAY (2003, August 29) dealing with the production and circulation of images and ideologies in the Middle East.

A two-part program of the Berlin Biennale presents works by Friedl vom Gröller (Kubelka) and George Kuchar. Vom Gröller (Kubelka) is a photographer, psychoanalyst and filmmaker. Since the 1960s she has shot filmic portraits that are reminiscent of Warhol's Screen Tests. Yet in contrast to Warhol, she is occasionally also in front of the camera.

Silent movie expert Vaginal Davis presents F.W. Murnau's TARTÜFF (Tartuffe, D 1925): With an eye on his money, a housekeeper devotedly cares for her ill employer and sees to it that his grandson is disinherited. As a counter-move, he — disguised as the projectionist of a traveling movie theater — screens a film that in the form of a parable uncovers the intrigue. It's the story of Tartüff, who wants to do his friend out of his money and is revealed by a trick. The musicians John and Tim Blue accompany the adaptation of Molière’s comedy live. And the moral of the story: Afterwards Miss Davis invites the audience to drinks in the Rote Foyer. (July 25)