The next edition of our childrens' workshop is taking place on April 23: What’s ringing, scratching, rustling there in the film? Ever since films were first shown in 1895, they have been accompanied by sounds and music. Today, a sound track collects sounds, music and noise. Before ourselves experimenting with sounds and noise and coming up with ideas for a soundtrack for DIE EXPEDITION ZUM SÜDPOL (Astrid Rieger, Germany 2002) that we will then perform live, we will find out what can be seen and heard in six shorts: In STUDIE NR. 9 (Germany 1931) by Oskar Fischinger and TRADE TATTOO (USA 1937) by Len Lye, sounds become movement, SIDEWALKS (USA 1966) by Marie Menken runs behind the lines on the sidewalk and DAS HEMD (Germany 1996) allows objects to become independent. LE PUITS FANTASTIQUE (France 1903) shows us astonishing transformations and in RIVERRED (Germany 2011), siblings play on a river bank. DIE EXPEDITION ZUM SÜDPOL turns us into polar explorers.(for everyone aged 8 and up)

What do 16mm, 35mm and 70mm actually mean? What is screen masking and what is it used for? How does a dissolve work? And what is actually happening when the image on the screen stops moving and begins to melt? If you’re interested in finding out how films get on to the screen, Arsenal would like to invite you to take a peek behind the scenes on one of our projection room tours. Our projectionist Bodo Pagels will show you round the projection room, tell you all about film formats, projectors and projection techniques, demonstrate how films are fed into the projector and provide a full introduction to the secrets of film projection. He will also be happy to answer any questions you might have about the cinema set-up and will adapt the tour to your wishes and interests as far as possible. The next scheduled tour will take place on Saturday April 14, at 4pm. Please register in advance. 


Our next event for children and adults aged 5 and above takes place on March 18.

People like looking at animals: At the zoo, in the circus and in the cinema. This program centers on experimental and early films where animals are the main attraction. In CATFILM FOR KATY AND CYNNIE (USA 1973), felines are the protagonists of an artistic experiment. In ENNESKEABEN (Denmark 1909) and HUNDE-VARIETÉ (France 1907) performing animals show what they can do: A chimpanzee rides a bicycle on stage and costumed dogs dance. In ÜBUNG ZUR GELASSENHEIT I–III (2002–2004) nobody takes any notice of the holy cows that sit and relax on busy roads in the jungle of big Indian cities. In LA GENETTE (France 1912) and TROIS AMIS (France 1909), people get closer to animals in the wild. A genet plunders a bird’s nest and blunders into a trap. Two children in an African country feed a small elephant that chases them away. We look at animals in so many ways, but do they look back?

The next edition of Big Cinema, Small Cinema takes place on January 11 and is for all childres aged 8 and above.

A spiraling spiral; a triangular shape comes into the picture; a circle that emerges and collapses. Can films be told without a plot?Just as some painters have tried to make do without objects or composers without tonality, filmmakers have over and over again tried to eschew plot. In OPUS 2 (G 1921) and OPUS 3 (G 1924) by Walter Ruttmann, the main characters are geometrical shapes and their movements. In Hans Richter’s FILMSTUDIE (G 1926), people, faces and constructed objects appear while in Mary Ellen Bute's short film The next edition of Big Cinema, Small Cinema takes place on January 11 and is for all childres aged 8 and above.

A spiraling spiral; a triangular shape comes into the picture; a circle that emerges and collapses. Can films be told without a plot?Just as some painters have tried to make do without objects or composers without tonality, filmmakers have over and over again tried to eschew plot. In OPUS 2 (Germany 1921) and OPUS 3 (Germany 1924) by Walter Ruttmann, the main characters are geometrical shapes and their movements. In Hans Richter’s FILMSTUDIE (Germany 1926), people, faces and constructed objects appear while in Mary Ellen Bute's short film ESCAPE (USA 1937) and Lara Faroqhi’s CIRCLE PHASES (Germany 2018) the idea is to use pictures to make visible musical works. We want to explore whether stories can be told even if there is no real plot. ESCAPE (USA 1937) and Lara Faroqhi’s CIRCLE PHASES (Germany 2018) the idea is to use pictures to make visible musical works. We want to explore whether stories can be told even if there is no real plot.

Khaled Mzher went to Lebanon, Jordan and Greece and made a small series of shorts about children living and working in these countries. In the presence of the filmmaker, we will show three of the films made in Jordan - COLOR MAKER, WHEN CITIES FLY and LET’S CAMERA. Jeannette Muñoz lives in Zurich but films mostly in Chile where she was born. In ENVIOS 21, her niece Barbara laughs a lot. In 1994, Ute Aurand took an afternoon walk through the city NEUBRANDENBURG north of Berlin, which she did not know. Marie Menken uses single frame cinematography to allow people and cars surge through the streets of the huge city of New York, calling her film GO! GO! GO! (January 21, for viewers aged 7+)

In the 70s, Harun Farocki made films for children, frequently in collaboration with Hartmut Bitomsky. Taking the phenomena of the world as their starting point, the films focus on forms of transport and transport routes such as trains, ships, roads, bridges, and rivers with noticeable frequency. They also show children’s toys and tools being compared with those used by adults: a stone, for example, with which a child can knock a nail into a piece of wood is contrasted with a pneumatic hammer on a building site and a machine in a factory. Farocki’s precise observation create visible connections between the things strewn across the world and conveys a vivid picture of complex contexts. Following the film screening, the children grapple with what they have seen in creative fashion.

(October 15, for children 5+, moderatad by Stefanie Schlüter and Brigitta Wagner)