Directors Lounge Screening
Urban Research – Private Affair
Thursday, 26 January 2017 | 21:00
Z-Bar | Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte

In the times of public intrusion into the private sphere, right wing populists and religious fundamentalists threatening the freedom of expression and diversity, and conservative politicians pressing for control and surveillance, the expressions of private life become a political affair again. Related to the slogan of 1968 “The personal is political”, the here presented films talk about personal or private affairs in relation to the public sphere and the urban space.

Many of the Urban Research films submitted in 2016 are dealing with private stories, that are related, in one way or the other, to the urban space and expressing the importance of freedom and solidarity for the divergent, the subversive and the liberal mind. The films present the small stories with high artistic aspiration, the nuanced views and the subjective diversity, which are even more important at times when populist positions start to replace distinguished sentiments in culture and politics.

A fine selection of Urban Research films shown at 48h Neukölln in addition to a brand new film by Penny Lane. And, films by Petra Lottje, Vladimir Turner, Rob Santaguida, Anna Okrasko, Doris Schmid, Salise Hughes, Eleonore de Montesquiou, and Ezra Wube

Links:
Directors Lounge  http://www.directorslounge.net
Richfilm  http://www.richfilm.de/currentUpload/
Z-Bar  http://www.z-bar.de

Snaps from this screening

Directors Lounge Screening
Urban Research – Spectra of Space

Thursday, 27 October 2016
21:00 ,
Z-Bar ,
Bergstraße 2,
10115 Berlin-Mitte

The idea of scale in architectural contemplations reflects on the meaning of the space, also scale connects with urban topology and contemporary ideas of social geography. Social, political, or personal impacts may be seen differently if seen from different point of views: looking from a global, national, municipal, personal, community-based or journalistic point of view.

These new films create spatial contemplations or film essays from Chicago, San Francisco, Berlin, New York, Canada, from a historical literature connection (Kerouac) or even the virtual space of a Si-Fi film series.
The screening presents a diversity of films connected with architecture, urban space and landscape from documentary to experimental, and will create an interesting visual dialogue about urban space in film.

Links:
Directors Lounge  http://www.directorslounge.net
Richfilm  http://www.richfilm.de/currentUpload/
Z-Bar  http://www.z-bar.de

Snaps from our monthly Directors Lounge Screenings

Directors Lounge Screening
Urban Research Special
Topophilia – Landscapes and Harbours | Claudia Guilino

Thursday, 30 June 2016
21:00
Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte

Two shorts and one feature about the interference of the technical world of shipping and oil with landscapes and the city. Twice the Port of Los Angeles is the starting point for visual exploration. One goes up north along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, the other examines the harbor at night. The harbor of Veracruz on the other hand is the place for a histographical reconsideration of the Mexican harbor from a very personal point of view.

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Topophilia by Peter Bo Rappmund surveys the 800-mile length of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and travels alongside the conduit as it bobs above and underground from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields to its terminus at Valdez. The extreme linearity and continuity of the pipeline acts as a pivot point to reorganize the landscape and offers new and idiosyncratic ways to visually reconsider topography. The film confronts the extreme beauty of the North-American landscape with the seemingly safe infrastructure of oil transport.

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Veracruz Without Ship by Teresa Delgado & Jakob Kirchheim. A documentary melodrama with privatizations and without lovers. A poetic walk through Veracruz, port of European exiles and Mexican oil, of melodrama and of the rhythm danzón. // Since 1938 Lázaro Cárdenas government offered political asylum to thousands of Spanish republicans who were fleeing war and persecution. They arrived to the port of Veracruz, unreachable paradise for the defeated who could not leave Spain. We revisit this myth of the grandparents and confront it with the present in 2014. In this year the PRI government is opening the doors to private investment of multinationals in a natural resource which Mexicans consider their own: oil. Oil plays an important role in the Gulf of Mexico and Mexican oil was nationalized by Cárdenas government in 1938.

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Port Noir by Laura Kraning. Within the machine landscape of Terminal Island, the textural strata of a 100 year old boat shop provides a glimpse into Los Angeles Harbor’s disappearing past. Often recast as a backdrop for fictional crime dramas, the scenic details of the last boatyard evoke imaginary departures and a hidden world at sea.

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Program addition:
We are deeply mourning the loss of our close friend Claudia Guilino and will show two videos by her

Stony Sleep  6 min 24s  2011
Abgesang, kupferfarben 3 min 52s 2009

Claudia Guilino was part of the Directors Lounge family from the early days, supporting our project with love and enthusiasm. Claudia passed away on June 26. She will be deeply missed.

Team Directors Lounge

Artist Link:
http://www.peterborappmund.name/
https://peterborappmund.exposure.co/
http://www.laurakraning.com
http://www.jakob-kirchheim.de/
http://www.agencia-tess.de

http://www.calla-mar.com/

Links:
Directors Lounge  http://www.directorslounge.net
Richfilm  http://www.richfilm.de/currentUpload/
Z-Bar  http://www.z-bar.de

urban research selection

9 April 2016 //// 16:00
//////////////// Coaty
////////Ladeira da Misericórdia
s/n – ruazinha atrás da Prefeitura de Salvador
Salvador – Centro Histórico, Brazil

Organized by: Projeto Ativa e Blade
OCUPAÇÃO COATY

Urban Research is a film and video program curated since 2006 by Klaus W. Eisenlohr during the Berlin International Directors Lounge festival. Urban Research encompasses explorations of public space, reports of the conditions of urban life and interventions in the urban sphere realized by international film and video artists using experimental, documentary, abstract or fictive forms.

The films of this Urban Research selection revolve around visions of the future city, recent and current movements and developments that take their expression in public spaces, urban studies and metaphoric images dealing with urban life. The mix of experimental and more documentary styles complement each other and create a diversity of connected ideas about urban life.

Pedro Miguel Santos PT
Zigurate 05:52 2013

Marina Chernikova NL
Urban Surfing / Moscow2 01:30 2012

Anna Okrasko PL
Lot’s Wife 05:13 2013

artizinconnu TR
The City and The Memory – Have you seen Sulukule? 08:40 2009

Sharon Horodi/ Cheb Kammerer DE
Simply a Love Song 05:00 2006

Rhayne Vermette CA
Full of Fire 02:15 2013 VP

Sirin Bahar Demirel TR
Living with Leviathan 11:00 2013

Scott Fitzpatrick CD
Places with Meaning 03:00 2012

Monika Rechsteiner CH
Real Estate II 08:30 2013

Jonathan Rescigno FR
Core’ngrato 10:00 2012

Matthew Pell UK
Escence 01:31 2013

Txema Novelo MX
Culpable 05:27 2012

Link:
Urban Research http://urban-research.eu/DL2016/framesUR-Coaty.html
Projeto-Ativa – https://www.facebook.com/Projeto-Ativa-233368730204724
Savador de Bahia, Brazil – https://www.facebook.com/Projeto-Ativa-233368730204724

Films und Closing Party of the Exhibition Exploring Berlin

Urban Research
Films from Istanbul and Berlin

Sunday, 21 February 2016
18:00

Alte Feuerwache Projektraum
Marchlewskistr. 6
10243 Berlin
U5 Weberwiese

Urban Research Istanbul Berlin presents short films between experimental and documentary exploring the public sphere in different cities. In collaboration with curator Burak Cevik from Istanbul we show films which deal in very personal ways with current and with historical urban developments and their problems.

The very personal point of view of the different filmmakers makes it possible to create a relation between different places and times, between the disappearance of old quarters, the violence that families have to endure in kurdish areas, the circumstance that led to the self-immolation of a turkish immigrant in Germany, and the juxtaposition of the story  of Jewish family in Italy during WW2 against the backdraft of Italo-Fascist Architecture in Rome.

Without addressing it directly, these problems of urban spacial change, political usurpation, experience of violence and personal experiences of social hardship can also be seen in relation to the current so-called “refugee crises” and the last political changes in Germany and Turkey. On the other hand, the films are also characterized by their ease to deal with personal documents and the charming personal observations.

Programm Link:
http://urban-research.eu/DL2016/framesUR-IstanbulBerlin.html

More Links:
Exploring Berlin – Exhibition at Alte Feuerwache Projektraum
– http://richfilm.de/currentUpload/1-framesExploringBerlin.html
Städtepartnerschaftsverein Kadıköy e.V.
– http://www.kadikoey-berlin.de/
Bezirksamt Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg von Berlin
– http://kulturamt-friedrichshain-kreuzberg.de/einrichtungen.php?DOC_INST=2
Photocentrum am Wassertor / vhs Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
– http://photocentrum.de/

Directors Lounge: http://www.directorslounge.net

Netzwerktreffen der Medienwerkstatt
Urban Research

Thursday, 18 February 2016 at 19:00

Medienwerkstatt Berlin im
Kulturwerk des bbk berlin GmbH
Mariannenplatz 2
10997 Berlin

Urban Research is a film and video program curated by Klaus W. Eisenlohr for Directors Lounge since 2009. Urban Research encompasses explorations of public space, the conditions of urban life, and interventions in the urban sphere, by international film and video artists using experimental, documentary, abstract, or fictive forms.

The reguarly meetings of media artists at BBK Medienwerkstatt are intended to support the media arts and the exchange between artists.

The discussion centers on the thresholds of different media practices and a critical concept of media in arts.

Direction: Sandra Becker and Lioba v.d.Driesch

Links:
Previous meetings: http://netzwerktreffendoku.de/
Urban Research 2014: http://urban-research.eu/DL2014/index.html
Directors Lounge: http://www.directorslounge.net

urban research selection

Friday, July the 31st at 9pm
Villino Romualdo — Nori De’ Nobili Museum — Piazza Leopardi, 32 Ripe di Trecastelli, Italy

Ph. +39. 071. 7957851        
museonoridenobili@gmail.com

Directors Lounge Berlin

Friday, July the 31st at 9pm at Villino Romualdo in Ripe Trecastelli will be held the final evening of Trecastelli Cinema sotto le Stelle. The first edition of Trecastelli cinema summer festival held for four evenings during the month of July contemporary movies to Trecastelli public spaces. The fifth and final night will host Klaus W. Eisenlohr, one of the Directors Lounge Berlin Festival directors. On this occasion he is presenting a series of short films from around the world that offer hypothetical visions of future cities, movements and developments that take their expression in public spaces, studies of urban spaces and metaphorical images that deal with urban issues.

The mix of documentaries and experimental styles complement each other to create a diversity of ideas that revolve around the theme of urban life.
Urban Research was founded in 2006 and focuses on the exploration of public space, the relationship of urban living conditions and interventions in urban areas made by filmmakers and international video artists who use experimental, documentary, abstract and fictitious techniques.

http://www.museonoridenobili.it/directors-lounge-berlin/

http://urban-research.eu/DL2014/framesUR-MuseoNoriDeNobili.html

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

Sun 9 | 7pm | space A

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The Future – The City

This juxtaposition of experimental shorts discusses futuristic aspects of urban life. “The future ain’t what it used to be” as a much quoted Yogiism says. Rather than elaborating on science fiction tales, the pictures combine and merge the present, past and future in different surprising ways. Life in our times may come with more challenges than just a space oddity.

Urban Research is a special film program during the Berlin International Directors Lounge concerned with urban themes curated by Klaus W. Eisenlohr.

For years the urban landscape has been under rapid change. Due to the increased economic pressure and shift towards mono-functional uses of the city, public space more and more vanishes. The newly awakened interest in old city centers, which is a rather positive development, has also created new demands in conjunction with the deregulations of national and municipal city tasks: the city has mainly become an object for real estate investment.

On the other hand, new waves for urban movements towards a democratic renewal have appeared. A redetermination of public place may have come across, a new protest culture against the complete commercialization of the city has spread in places. Be it called neoliberal, new labor, social democratic, political-islam or post-Maoism, you name I. The radical loss of democratic political influences concerning urban development seems to have found a counter force in a rediscovery of the political space. The above sometimes extreme changes in the urban are also being reflected in creative art and film, or may even find their unique expression in the arts.

program:

Joe Merrell US Crisis Apparition 06:52 2013

Lorenz Fidel Huchthausen DE Alter Junge 04:28 2013

Pedro Miguel Santos PT Zigurate 05:52 2013

Monika Rechsteiner CH Real Estate II 08:30 2013 IA

Fabian Heitzhausen DE Let’s Play Modernism 04:26 2013

Matthew Pell UK Escence 01:31 2013 WP

Scott Fitzpatrick CD Places with Meaning 03:00 2012

Henry Gwiazda US choice 09:16 2012 GP

Rhayne Vermette CA Full of Fire 02:15 2013 WP

Joas Sebastian Nebe DE Rush Hour 03:00 2013 IA

LJ Frezza US Golden Eye 06:04 2013 GP

Elizabeth Ross MX Insomnio 04:17 2013

Christiane Thalmann UK Conversation on the Underground 05:29 2005

Noyman Gili IL Sounds of Discontent 02:49 2012

Sharon Horodi/ Cheb Kammerer DE Simply a Love Song 05:00 2006 IA

pictured: Urban Research Program Flyer.

TRT 72 min

WP World premiere
EP European premiere
GP German premiere
IA in attendance

Tues 11 | 6pm | space A

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Memories of Non-Spaces

Even with a culture of news channels, soaps, talk shows, personal blogs, twitter and vimeo, we only hardly understand the complexities of average life, and the implications of every day history. This program between experimental and documentary shorts brings together films dealing with micro-history. It is not just the American sprawl that seems to be opaque to history-telling. The French provincial town already seems to be as alien, when seen from a political perspective.

Urban Research is a special film program during the Berlin International Directors Lounge concerned with urban themes curated by Klaus W. Eisenlohr.

For years the urban landscape has been under rapid change. Due to the increased economic pressure and shift towards mono-functional uses of the city, public space more and more vanishes. The newly awakened interest in old city centers, which is a rather positive development, has also created new demands in conjunction with the deregulations of national and municipal city tasks: the city has mainly become an object for real estate investment.

On the other hand, new waves for urban movements towards a democratic renewal have appeared. A redetermination of public place may have come across, a new protest culture against the complete commercialization of the city has spread in places. Be it called neoliberal, new labor, social democratic, political-islam or post-Maoism, you name I. The radical loss of democratic political influences concerning urban development seems to have found a counter force in a rediscovery of the political space. The above sometimes extreme changes in the urban are also being reflected in creative art and film, or may even find their unique expression in the arts.

This might be your last chance to read some unfunny text, while waiting for the actual DL X program.

Jonathan Rescigno FR Destination Lune 25:00 2010 IA

Jeymer Gamboa AR Reencuentro 02:00 2013 GP

Benallal Mehdi FR Bois d’Arcy 24:00 2013 GP

Gabrielle Le Bayon FR Tender Pastures 06:00 2013

Anna Okrasko PL Lot’s Wife 05:13 2013 WP

Txema Novelo MX Culpable 05:27 2012

Erika Matsunami JN/DE existence of risk – 1964  04:30 2013 IA

Marina Chernikova NL Urban Surfing / Moscow2 01:30 2012 GP/IA

Silvia Dal Dosso IT The 1 Up Fever 13:19 2013 IA

pictured: Urban Research Program Flyer.

TRT 84 min

WP World premiere
EP European premiere
GP German premiere
IA in attendance