Snaps from our monthly Directors Lounge Screenings at Z-inema, Z-Bar, Berlin:
Clint Enns screening “Embodying the Intention” curated and presented by Klaus W. Eisenlohr | photos: Nick Font/DL
Directors Lounge Screening:
Taylor Dunne and Eric Stewart
Mountain Time
Thursday, 25 June 2015
21:00
Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte
Mountain Time – Films from the Interior of North America
Taylor Dunne and Eric Stewart are artists currently living in Colorado (USA). They share an affinity for 16mm filmmaking, they use photochemical processes as a means to explore the interconnectedness of time, history and the landscape. They are currently collaborating on a film investigating the history of uranium mining and nuclear weapons testing in the American Southwest.
The program comprises camera-less films and personal documentaries. They try to connect personal experiences with some parts of the North American landscape, history and nature. All shot in 16mm, it seems they have a mission for simplicity but also for the complications of Native American heritage. The two filmmakers are currently touring Europe with this program, and giving classes for chemical manipulations of analogue film.
Furthermore, on June 24 & 25, Taylor Dunne and Eric Stewart will teach the workshop LIFT OFF: An Emulsion Lift Workshop at LaborBerlin. Please contact LaborBerlin if interested.
The artists will be available for Q&A. Curated be Klaus W. Eisenlohr
Artist Links:
http://taylordunne.com/
https://vimeo.com/ecstaticerratic
Links:
Directors Lounge
http://www.directorslounge.net
Details:
http://www.richfilm.de/currentUpload/
Z-Bar
http://www.z-bar.de
Directors Lounge Screening:
Clint Enns
Embodying the Intention
Wednesday, 17 June 2015
21:00
Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte
Embodying the Intention: The Selected Works of Clint Enns
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Clint Enns is a video artist currently living in Toronto, Ontario. He originally studied mathematics before changing his focus to the study of cinema and media studies. His work is multifaceted and eclectic, and therefore resists easy classification. Mostly using found material, he manipulates analogue film, screen captures video chats and computer games, transforms videos into ASCI code, uses lo-fi toy cameras, close-circuit feedback and found footage. He has presented his works in festivals and alternative cinema spaces and writes about cinema.
Although his work is primarily short in length, it is intended for theatrical presentation, and not as installation work, single or multi-channel, as most other media artists do. His being in favour for the screening format, and the playful anarchy of his films, reflect also the vibrant micro-cinema culture that exists in both Toronto and Winnipeg: communities that create and discuss films and that are open to a new generation of filmmakers and video artists working in unconventional and non-academic ways (though many established and academic elders contribute to the community such as Guy Maddin, Mike Hoolboom, Phil Hoffman and John Porter, all from Canada) These are the kind of communities that echo the old days of Cinema 16 where Amos Vogel and his peers showed a mixture of avant-garde films, splash films, instructional and science movies together with subversive political films.
In Enns’ work you may find traces of the joyful, deconstructing practice of Nam June Paik, who used magnets and other tools to bend the beam of the cathode in order to distort the television image. Enns nowadays also uses scripting and electronic errors in order to create or alter his images. Still, it seems as if the artist is using a quote of Paik for his work: “When too perfect, lieber Gott böse” (When too perfect, dear God turns angry). With this show at Z-Bar, Clint Enns invites us to a microcosm of electronic and analogue images, which can only be seen as the antithesis to the over-real, sharp, High Definition images, and as an ironic response to some overly serious avant-garde heroes, emblematic of the Cult of the Bolex.
His mathematical studies have not only provided Enns with the knowledge to use algorithms for the creation of his images, but have also liberated some diabolic and playful humor (all out of love), which sometimes requires a savvy viewer to fully read the irony embedded in the image.
Artist Link:
http://clintenns.tumblr.com/
Links:
Directors Lounge
http://www.directorslounge.net
Details:
http://www.richfilm.de/currentUpload/
Z-Bar
http://www.z-bar.de
°*-*°
Directors Lounge Screening:
Distruktur –
Melissa Dullius & Gustavo Jahn
perspectives – on moving
Thursday, 28 May 2015
21:00
Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte
A program of shorts by the artist couple Melissa Dullius and Gustavo Jahn with some new and rare films. Distruktur – Dullius and Jahn – claim a space fluctuating somewhere between the big and small cinema. Consequently working with analogue film while shooting and mostly also developing their own material, their films seem to create a kinematic time-space that is distinct from the ordinary even though they often use film settings of daily life.
The films could be described as experimental-narrative, as they use script, actors and often costumes, both artists often act as protagonists of their own film, but they avoid the conventional dramaturgy of mainstream and its psychological realism that mostly leads to melodrama. The film “Abril (2002)” in some short scenes seems to be a direct quote of Maya Deren’s “Meshes of the Afternoon”. It is an early film, from the time when Melissa and Gustavo were not working together as directors and which has not been shown in Berlin, yet. The moment of “trance” – or mystery – though disappears and becomes resolved as it did not really happen, as it is just a memory that stays but cannot be explained in rational ways.
Time seems to be ambiguous in the movies of the director duo. Even though Triangulum (2008) and Time Machine (2015) are set “in the future” as the narrated texts explain, they make no direct references to science fiction movies. The action does not pretend to be from the future, but the time of the narrative could be the past, the present or the future. Are we looking into the future, or looking back from the future to the past, to the present?
This ambiguity gives the film Triangulum, which is set and was shot in Cairo and Alexandria, an interesting contemporary perspective. With the background of the more recent “Arabic Spring”, the radical political movements in Egypt and wars in Near East – and the not so long ago longing for a mythical Orient prevalent in the West, the film has a surprising actuality.
It will be even more interesting to think about the references given in the films of the program, as Melissa and Gustavo have more recently created films that could be placed in the past. Not in any exact historical past, but in a past of myths. “Don’t Look Back ⁄ Labirinto”(2014, German Premiere) has been filmed in Berlin and obviously references the antique theme of Orpheus, while “In the Traveler’s Heart”(2013) was shot in Nida, Lithuania and seems to present a protagonist from an indigenous Latin American background. However, the narrative time of both do not try to create a realistic story. Time does not seem to proceed as a clockwork – on a narrative timeline, nor does it seem to be a dream. The image seems to be contemporary and timeless at the same time. This ambiguity of time, space and narrative the artist couple is creating, together with the atmospheric image of hand processed analogue film makes a unique viewing experience with many possibilities of interpretations.
Artist Link:
http://distruktur.com
Links:
Directors Lounge
http://www.directorslounge.net
Details:
http://www.richfilm.de/currentUpload/
Z-Bar
http://www.z-bar.de
°*-*°
Directors Lounge Screening:
Sandra Becker 01
Bon Fim
Thursday, 30 April 2015
21:00
Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte
The Berlin artist Sandra Becker 01 works mainly with video, in a diversity of ways. Even though she also created feature length films, her interest lies in the more open form of short and very short clips. Her videos, shot and edited by herself, therefore are rather material for installations, video programs or, more recently, digital applications. Movements and changes of place are the resources for her recordings, scenes from every day life, which also like to be seen as metaphorical, but which are rarely merged into solid narratives. The artist, who often collaborates with other artists and who is one of the supervisors of the video studio of the Berlin Artist Association, will present a number of shorts and very short works together with some extracts of long formats. One focus of the works presented will be new shorts from her recent stay at Porto Alegre, Brazil. And there will be space for discussion.
Artist Link:
http://sandrabecker01.de
Links:
Directors Lounge
http://www.directorslounge.net
Details:
http://www.richfilm.de/currentUpload/
Z-Bar
http://www.z-bar.de
°*-*°
Directors Lounge Screening:
Jan Soldat
Vom Rande her
Thursday, 26 February 2015
21:00
Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte
Jan Soldat
Peripheral Vision
Vom Rande her
In his films, Jan Soldat portraits people whose private life defer from the social norm. The practice of sadomasochism, or love to animals does not find understanding by many, and thus these persons have been confronted with social marginalization. Watching the films of Jan Soldat may be even more disturbing, because he does not work with theater-like enactments as it is known from many trendy productions about the SM scene. Jan Soldat meets his leading characters in their private life. Instead of creating the illusion of sexual phantasies or fulfilled desires, the filmmaker is interested in the ordinary routines of daily life. And here, he creates exceptional captivating pictures, as he meets these men at eye level and gives them space to express themselves, making them true protagonists. And, the ways he frames and later on edits the scenes with much love to those details, he creates the attention that is needed to listen to the stories told and depicted in front of the camera.
(German Text)
Jan Soldat nähert sich in seinen Filmen Menschen, deren Privatleben von der sozialen Norm abweicht. Gelebter Sadomasochismus oder Liebe zu Tiere fällt bei vielen Menschen auf Ablehnung und führt entsprechend zu gesellschaftlicher Ausgrenzung. Verstörender noch können die Filme sein, weil Jan Soldat nicht auf theaterhafte Inszenierungen setzt, wie wir sie als bekannte „Szenebilder“ kennen, sondern den Menschen in ihrem Alltag begegnet, und gar nicht versucht, Begierde oder sexuelle Phantasien in Szene zu setzen. Viel eher interessiert ihn die Begegnung mit den Menschen. Hier leistet der Filmemacher außerordentliches, indem er den Menschen auf Augenhöhe begegnet und ihnen nicht nur Raum gibt, sich auszudrücken. Sondern auch indem er in der Inszenierung mit der Kamera und später im Schnitt mit Liebe zum Detail ihnen mit jener Aufmerksamkeit begegnet, die es benötigt, um sie als „Protagonisten“ selbst sprechen zu lassen.
°*-*°
The artist will be available for Q&A. German with English subtitles.
Curated by Klaus W. Eisenlohr
Programm:
Zucht und Ordnung ⁄ Law and Order 2012 D 8:42 min
Geliebt ⁄ Be Loved 2010 D 15:45 min**
Der Unfertige ⁄ The Incomplete 2013 D 47:53 min
Artist Links:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Soldat
http://www.filmuniversitaet.de/de/filmuniversitaet/alumni/alumni/regie/tma/detail/7032.html
Film Links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Der-Unfertige-The-Incomplete/170591753144653
https://www.facebook.com/pages/ZUCHT-und-ORDNUNG-LAW-and-ORDER/1428891620657840?fref=ts
http://www.filmuniversitaet.de/de/filmeprojekte/filme/detail/geliebt/0.html
**GELIEBT ist eine Produktion der Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF
www.filmuniversitaet.de – distribution@hff-potsdam.de
Links:
Directors Lounge
http://www.directorslounge.net
Details:
http://www.richfilm.de/currentUpload/
Z-Bar
http://www.z-bar.de
°*-*°
Directors Lounge Screening:
Katya Craftsova
Anthropological Travel Notes
Thursday, 29 Januar 2015
21:00
Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte
Katya Craftsova
Katya, artist from Russia, currently works as an artist-in-residency at ZKU Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik. Her work is closely connected with a number of residencies and art projects she created in very different countries, such as Norway, Tanzania, Italy and India. Always trying to connect with local people, the artist is always interested in working with the stories the people tell her. With those stories she uses very different genres, like interview, paper-cut animation or straight documentary. And in the same way of personal narration, she also tells about the place her mother lives: Sebastopol.
The artist will be available for Q&A, moderated by Cordula Gdaniec. Curated by Klaus W. Eisenlohr.
Artist Links:
http://www.craftsova.com/
Links:
Directors Lounge
http://www.directorslounge.net
Details:
http://www.richfilm.de/currentUpload/
Z-Bar
http://www.z-bar.de
°*-*°
Urban Research – Istanbul Films
Thursday, 27 November 2014
21:00
Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte
Istanbul has drawn a lot of attention in Germany, lately. It has become a city fashionable not only for visits, but also for projects in architecture and art. The history of the past 60 years has been one of success. An incredible growth from around 1 million to estimated over 14 million inhabitants has been handled without the emergence of slums and widespread poverty combined with criminality as many other mega cities in the world have. The economic boom of the last 2 decades, based on a moderate modernization in the past and a growing middle-class, has also created a demand for democratic renewal on one hand. On the other hand, a new class of powerful rich in combination with a globalized monetary-economy try to further accelerate economic growth in the city, which causes a lot of controversies and a rising number of people possibly loosing the battle for urban renewal.
The films in this program show glimpses of different developments in the mesh of urban renewal. All of them combine artistic observations with a large sympathy to the people portrayed and places shown.
artizinconnu TR
The City and The Memory – Have you seen Sulukule? 08:40 2009
Sulukule is a former Romani area in Turkey which has been taken down by the government. Its inhabitants have been removed to Tasoluk, 45 km away.
Bingöl Elmas TR
Hey Neighbor! 44:45 2014 WP
One of the results of the urban transformation in Istanbul is the abrupt conversion of old neighborhoods into luxurious estates. The communities that have no relations with each other happen to find themselves side by side. Ultra-wealth and poverty have became neighbors. The film investigates both sides and the impossibility of relations.
Sirin Bahar Demirel TR
Living with Leviathan 11:00 2013
Through a personal story about the nationwide uprising in Turkey in summer 2013, the “Occupy Gezi” movement, this movie tries to show how the Turkish youth says “No!” by reclaiming the city against an over-reacting government and brutal police force.
Artist’s Links:
artizinconnu
Bingöl Elmas
Sirin Bahar Demirel
Press Links:
Z-Bar – http://www.z-bar.de/
Directors Lounge
More infos:
richfilm
Directors Lounge at the PCFS – Post Colonial Flagship Store, Quartier 21, Vienna.
The “Post Colonial Flagship Store (PCFS)” exhibition project (concept: Sven Kalden and Georg Klein) showcases artworks camouflaged as consumer goods, and engages with a new, surreptitious form of colonialism.
The PCFS opened at quartier 21, Vienna’s center for contemporary “applied art” in the MuseumsQuartier.
We participate, thanks to the generous support of the artist in residence program of quartier 21, with a row of three screenings, Greeting cards from reality.
Part III “Values” presented by André Werner, will be screened November 18th. 7:30pm, free admission.
Alan Aranha and Bharat Mirle IN Junction 01:41 2012
Max Hattler DE Collision 2:30 2005
KRONCK (aka Maximilian Gerlach & Jessica Benzing) DE Thank You Third World #1 1 min 2009
Dalia Huerta Cano MX ¿Olvida usted algo? 27:47 2012
KRONCK (aka Maximilian Gerlach & Jessica Benzing) DE Thank You Third World #2 1 min 2009
Barbara Marheineke DE Green Gold 13:10 2012,
courtesy aug&ohr medien
KRONCK (aka Maximilian Gerlach & Jessica Benzing) DE Thank You Third World #3 1 min 2009
Mihai Grecu FR We’ll Become Oil 8 min 2011
ZhenChen Liu CN Under Construction 10 min, DV, 2007
Elías León Siminiani ES The Commute 12min 30s 2009
Sirin Bahar Demirel TR Living with Leviathan 11:00 2013
Zaoli Zhong CN A Dangerous Question 05:35 2012
Tokomburu / Ion Papaspyrou and Zisis Kokkinidis GR I Am Not Here Now 09:30 2013
Hussen Ibraheem LB Typo 07:00 2013
TRT ca. 112 min
pictured:
Zaoli Zhong CN A Dangerous Question 05:35 2012 (top)
Mihai Grecu FR We’ll Become Oil 8 min 2011
Directors Lounge at the PCFS – Post Colonial Flagship Store, Quartier 21, Vienna.
The “Post Colonial Flagship Store (PCFS)” exhibition project (concept: Sven Kalden and Georg Klein) showcases artworks camouflaged as consumer goods, and engages with a new, surreptitious form of colonialism.
The PCFS opened at quartier 21, Vienna’s center for contemporary “applied art” in the MuseumsQuartier.
We participate with a row of three screenings, Greeting cards from reality.
Part II “The Kids” presented by André Werner, will be screened November 4th. 7:30pm, free admission.
Habib Sadaat AF Kite of Wishes 13.27 2012
Ali Asgari IR Barbie 12:30 2012
Jimmy Hendrickx BE Semalu 19:37 2013
Romain Gavras FR Stress 6 min 48s 2008 Music: Justice
Marisa Crespo and Moisés Romera ES A Better Place 04:40 2013
David Munoz ES A Proposito de Ndugu / About Ndugu 16:00 2013
Ines Enciso ES Mofetas/Skunks 10 min 2008
Sahim Omar Kalifa BE/AE/IQ Baghdad Messi 16:00 2013
TRT 100 min
Part III “Values” presented by André Werner, will be screened November 18th. 7:30pm, free admission.
still taken from: Sahim Omar Kalifa BE/AE/IQ Baghdad Messi 16:00 2013