Z-Bar, Thurs, 24th

Film and Video are media of time, maybe even more so than any other medium. The frozen time, the preserved time, as well as the composed time are even more constitutive for experimental film and art videos than for narrative film. Not only Deleuze pointed out, that film at it´s height is “temps-image” instead of “movement-image”, though he referred to European narrative cinema; also Peter Kubelka stated: “film is not movement, quite the opposite, while projecting film, every thing is being undertaken to technically prevent showing the movement of the film strip”. It is time, however, to bring together some Berlin friends of experimental film and Directors Lounge, and under the headline of “time”. Please come and meet the artists; many of whom will be present, at the program at Z-Bar Berlin.

Directors Lounge at Z-Bar, Thursday, 24 June 2010, at 21:00

The program comprises films and videos by Aline Helmcke, Andreas Gogol, Dagie Brundert, Deborah Phillips, Heiko Daxl, Ingeborg Fülepp, Jens Lüstraeten, Klaus W. Eisenlohr, Max Hattler, Myriam Thyes, Sandra Becker 01, Telemach Wiesinger, Thorsten Fleisch, Ute Reeh

Directors Lounge Screenings in der Z-Bar
präsentiert:
Within Landscape and Time
Video Works by
Elena Näsänen
Mittwoch, 26 Mai 2010
21:00

Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte

Elena Näsänen
Video Künstlerin aus Finnland

Die große Leinwand, das große Kino und das Bild von Natur in Cinemascope sind Bezüge für Elena Näsänens Video Arbeiten. Sie ist eine der wenigen Künstler, die ausschließlich mit Video arbeiten, und die zudem selten auf der Kinoleinwand zu sehen sind. Stattdessen findet die Öffentlichkeit die Arbeiten der finnischen Künstlerin in Galerien und internationalen Kunstausstellungen.

Ihre Filme beinhalten Strukturen des narrativen Kinos: zu den meisten ihrer Videofilme hat sie das Drehbuch verfasst, es spielen Schauspieler, es gibt einen Kameramann und manche enthalten den Spannungsaufbau möglicher, unheimlicher Erlebnisse, wie sie die Zuschauer in Horror und Kriminalfilmen erwarten. In “Before Rain“ (Vor dem Regen) benutzt Elena Ausschnitte aus Hollywood Krimis, die jedoch nicht aufgelöst werden; in „Night“ (Nacht) folgt die weibliche Hauptfigur ihrem Drang, das Haus bei Nacht zu verlassen und den nahe liegenden dunklen Wald zu durchstreifen; und in „Wasteland“ (Ödland) ist eine Gruppe von Frauen im Hinterland Australien unterwegs, deren Aufgabe und Schicksal am Ende unbekannt bleiben. Überhaupt sind fast immer Frauen die Protagonisten der Szenen.

Zwei andere Elemente zeichnen Elenas Arbeit jedoch mindestens in ähnlich starker Weise aus: Zeit und Natur. Zeit ist gänzlich verbunden mit dem Bild. .Zeit wird ambivalent, wird zur Filmzeit, die entweder still steht oder endlos dauert, ganz abhängig vom Betrachter. Auf der anderen Seite scheint Natur die Szenerie zu dominieren. Vielleicht ist es so, dass Elene Näsenen hier den Blick auf das erhabene „Andere“ wieder aufleben lässt. Natur, so wie sie das unbekannte Andere für uns Bewohner der Städte wurde.
(Kuratiert von Klaus W. Eisenlohr)

Artist Link:
http://www.elenanasanen.com

Directors Lounge
http://www.directorslounge.net
More infos and video stills:
http://www.richfilm.de/filmUpload/1-framesElenaNasanen.html

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ENGLISH TEXT:

Directors Lounge Screenings in der Z-Bar
presents:
Within Landscape and Time
Video Works by
Elena Näsänen
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
21:00

Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte

Elena Näsänen
Video Work

Elena Näsänen’s reference for her work on video is the big screen, the glory of grand cinema, and with that, the picture of nature in cinemascope. She is one of the few artists who work exclusively on video, and who are rarely shown on a cinema screen. Instead, the audience finds her work in art shows, galleries and international exhibitions.

The films of the Finnish artist who lives in Helsinki contain structures of narrative cinema: most of them are written by the artist, are played by actors, and they are building up a suspense of uncanny possible occurrences, which the audience anticipates to happen. In “Before Rain” Elena uses fragments of Hollywood crime movies that stay unresolved, in “Night” a female character follows an urge to leave the house at night searching through the adjunct woods, and in “Wasteland” a group of women are on their way to an unknown task and destiny.

There are two other elements, however, that seem to mark Elena’s work just as strongly: time and nature. Time is strictly connected with images. If her images stay in our memory, their time seems to persist, thus making time ambivalent, a “film time” that stands still or becomes endless, depending on the viewer. Nature, on the other hand seems to dominate the image, and Elena’s characters. Maybe, Elena Näsänen here revives a contemporary view onto the sublime other: Nature as it has become the unfamiliar other for us city dwellers. And this mystery may be contained by the Australian outback, the Chinese yellow mountains, or the Finnish landscape.
(curated by Klaus W. Eisenelohr)

Artist Link:
http://www.elenanasanen.com

Directors Lounge
http://www.directorslounge.net
More infos and video stills:
http://www.richfilm.de/filmUpload/1-framesElenaNasanen.html

Elle Burchill, F.Y.S.

Richard O’Sullivan, Fragments of the Los Angeles River

The Urban Research Loop Program is shown on different screens and different days, each. On request, it is also possible to set certain films up on screen.

part 1:

Anna Staffel DE Documenta 12 13min 23sec 2009

Ashley Pigford US Providence 3min 04sec 2007

Chris Henschke AU Walls of Berlin 1min 00sec 2010

Christina McPhee US Tesserae-Yellow Tahiti Substation Foods 4 Less 3min 48sec 2009

Elham Rokni IL Drive! 1min 32sec 2008

Elle Burchill US F.Y.S. 7min 36sec 2007

Ivar Smedstad NO mekanisk<->organisk 5min 06sec 2009

Katerie Gladdys US Stroller Flaneur 4min 00sec 2009

Konstantinos-Antonios Goutos DE after caspar david friedrich  8min 14sec 2007

Marina Chernikova NL Urban Surfing  03min 10sec 2007

Pablo Useros ES Found People Movements – Descend, 5 Nov Plaza Castilla, The Human Race 11min 00sec 2009

Pablo Useros ES Found People Movements –The Human Race 11min 00sec 2009

Pablo Useros ES Found People Movements –5 Nov Plaza Castilla 11min 00sec 2009

Paul Clipson US CHORUS 7min 00sec 2009

Pierre Yves Clouin Fr Crossing 1min 13sec 2008

Rinat Edelstein IL long distances 13min 38sec 2007

Sari Carel US Olive Glove 8min 10sec 2009

Wilfried Agricola de Cologne DE Radio Flyer 5min 20sec 2009

Wilfried Agricola de Cologne DE Urban.early sunday morning_raw 4min 30sec 2007

part 2:

Adam Kossoff UK Not Our Darkness 25min 05sec 2009

Arne Bunk DE bühne:wolfsburg 15min 00sec 2009

Felix Lenz DE “What is a Minute, Lumère?” 48min 00sec 2009

Lothar Schuster DE Fensterblicke 30min 00sec 2009

Michael Schuwerk US Happiness is the Right Choice 13min 51sec 2009

Richard O’Sullivan  UK Fragments of the Los Angeles River 46min 00sec 2009

Simon Tarr US Giri Chit 14min 21sec 2009

David Gunn / Guillermo Brown UK Open Cities / Porto (excerpt) 06min 00sec 2009

For more information and videostills about the Urban Research Loop Program
click here!

Fri 19th 6:00 pm

With urban interventions, artists try to play a more active role in society than just showing in a gallery space. The reasons and aims can be manyfold. Some artists see themselves as “political activist” and try to change politics and society; others just try to reach a different, more divers audience; or, they like to realize a seemingly impossible dream. All of them, however – even if the respective intervention is just the presence of the recording camera – share visions and ideas about urban life, on how to connect life, soul, street, architecture and society. And those inspirations may be infectious, beware!

Tom Skipp ES Stormwater / Estanque de tormentas 14min 23sec 2009

Jeanne Liotta US sutro 02min 53sec 2008

Vassiliea Stylianidou DE/GR Im Park 08min 30sec 2009

Clemens Fürtler A BILDMASCHINE 03 04min 30sec 2010

Riccardo Iacono UK Missing 04min 12sec 2007

Paul Clipson US CHORUS 07min 00sec 2009

Roberto Duarte DE/CL Reflektionen 06min 50sec 2009

Mischa Leinkauf + Mathias Wermke DE Zwischenzeit 06min 32sec 2008

Patrick Tarrant AU Stepping Down 09min 30sec 2010

Pablo Useros ES Found People Movements – This is a Political Film 10min 06sec 2009

Anja Abele DE Institut Orange: Die Geh Dreh Schau Bewegung 00min 31sec 2009

Anja Abele DE Institut Orange: Das Ticket Stempeln 00min 56sec 2010

Roch Forowicz PL Interception 05min 20sec 2007-2009

Vassiliea Stylianidou Im Park

For more information on the Urban Research program
Link click here: www.richfilm.de

Thurs 18th 6:00 pm

The success of modern cities as social entities is connected with the liability of relative security and trust in the social contract between citizens. As Jan Philippe Reemtsma states: “If I happen to drop into a violent situation, I will neither be made responsible for not being armed, nor for not being able to defend myself.” (memory-quoted). Although this unwritten contract is part of the production of modernity, urban identity, myths and symbols often tell about violent situations. The films in this program trace the uncanny in contemporary settings, they show hidden and small stories, which may remind us about how delicate that construction is, a balance between the opposite dangers of enforced order and violent social decay. Does it wonder that the selection presents films from Israel, the United States and one about Berlin?

Hadas Tapouchi IL Moel Yad 6min 00sec 2009

Keren Zaltz IL Mall 5min 55sec 2008

Elham Rokni IL Drive! 1min 32sec 2008

Kevin Jerome Everson US Ike 02min 25sec 2008

Esther Podemski and Chuck Schultz US 5 Days in July 10min 00sec 2008

Dominic Angerame US Premonition 23min 00sec 1997

Kevin Jerome Everson US Second and Lee 02min 47sec 2008

Sergio De La Torre US Nuevo Dragon City 14min 00sec 2008

Charles Chadwick US Genetic Reclamation Area 05min 48sec 2008

Christina McPhee US Seven After Eleven 07min sec 2008

Rinat Edelstein IL Play Ground 06min 58sec 2009

Christina McPhee Seven After Eleven

For more information on the Urban Research program
Link click here: www.richfilm.de

Tue 16th 6 pm

Zsolt Keserue HU “Dreams Come True” 24min 00sec 2009

Zsolt Keserue Dreams Come True

In Dunaújváros, a city inhabited primarily by workers, most forums of culture are practically unknown to the majority of the population. The number of puplic spaces that feel authentic to young people are – similarly to any settlement of this size – meagre. Thus, what is left is playing music together, primarily in a genre wich, once stood for freedom but is, by now, barely definable, wich speaks to “everyone”, and seeks directness in its lyrics: rock music.

Only garages have offered a suitable site for rehearsing; it is there that bands gather to make music after working hours. Their attitudes regarding this fact are very varied: merciless self-critique, hope concealed by disillusionment; great and confusing plans can be found in parallel within the same band. There are some for whom garage music is self-actualisation in itself, others hope for large stages and audiences of ten thousand people. Upon taking a closer look at the community, we can also discover an interesting mesh of dynamics: passions, “master-apprentice” relationships, perfectionism, envy – almost everything that would come into play in a “high stake game” milieu. In this particular niche, a strange flavour is added to the mix by the fact that most of the bands play almost only for themselves.

The first interviews were made in 2002 involved 16 bands whose members spoke about their past, their everyday lives, their plans, and their ars poetics. When, in 2008, on the apropos of a garage rock festival, the interviews were continued, only 3 of the 16 bands were still active, and with significant changes as regards band members. The film endeavours to explore the system of relationships within this community, examining the reasons and motivations of those who dedicate their time, energy and considerable sums of money to this particular experiment in self expression which, under the diguise of a hobby, promises the realisation of the rock and roll dream, and which, more aften than not, is doomed to failure.

For more information on the Urban Research program
Link click here: www.richfilm.de

Sun 14th 6:00 pm

The European image of Latin America, especially of Mexico is distorted; the mainstream media only repeats those images situated between the extremes of violence and poverty, and of exoticism on ethnic culture. Little does their audience get to know about the traditions of Latin modernism and maybe even less of the contemporary art scene. This program has an emphasis on works from and about Mexico City, but also features a work by the Cuban artist Adrian Melis, and a Spanish film about Bogota. All films take a critical and at the same time fresh and humorous view on urban themes. The glimpses on daily life through the artist’s camera may tell more about realities in urban life than television reports or news images.

Juan delGado UK/ES The Flickering Darkness 13min 32sec 2009

Stefan Demming DE The edge of the city 30min 00sec 2007

Verena Grimm Machtstrukturen 02min 32sec 2007

Markus Soukup UK TO OR AT A DISTANCE 10min 01sec 2009

Adrian Melis CU The making of fourty rectangular piece for a floor constuction 05min 30sec 2009

Jose Matiella+Ivan Meza MX Sintia 04min 28sec

Fernando Llanos MX Citta 03min 32sec 2004

Beatriz+CarlosMatiella MX Vecinos 02min 43sec

Beatriz+CarlosMatiella MX Buda 03min 06sec

Hector Falcon MX Simulacro 0min 41sec 2005

Verena Grimm La + Rocha 13min 45sec 2007

Verena Grimm La + Rocha

Special Loop Feature:

Anna Staffel DE Documenta12 13min 23sec 2009

Anna Staffel Documenta 12

For more information on the Urban Research program
Link click here: www.richfilm.de

Sat 13th 6:30 pm

Indian Boundary Line

Penny Lane & Jessica Bardsley US The Commoners 12min 30sec 2009

In 1890, a wealthy eccentric named Eugene Schieffelin collected every bird ever mentioned by Shakespeare and released them into Central Park. The only one to survive in the New World was the European Starling, now among the commonest – and most despised – urban birds in America. THE COMMONERS is an essay film about European Starlings, poetry, the rhetorical relationship between nationalism and environmentalism, and the paths people forge through history as they attempt to improve the natural world.

Commoners

AND Sneak Preview:

Thomas Comerford US The Indian Boundary Line 42min 00sec 2010

Over the last eight years, Chicago musician and filmmaker Thomas Comerford has been at work on a series of quietly-observed films that contemplate the entwined social, political, and environmental histories of Chicago (Figures in the Landscape, 2002; Land Marked/Marquette, 2005).
His new film, The Indian Boundary Line, follows “a road very close to my home in Chicago, Rogers Avenue,” that traces the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis boundary between the United States and “Indian Territory” and examines the collision between “the vernacular landscape, with its storefronts, short-cut footpaths and picnic tables, and the symbolic one, replete with historical markers, statues and fences.
In its observations and audio-visual juxtapositions, THE INDIAN BOUNDARY LINE meditates on history and history’s relationship to the landscape, with its shifting boundaries, designs, uses and inhabitants across two centuries.”

Indian Boundary Line

For more information on the Urban Research program
Link click here: www.richfilm.de

Sat 13th 8 pm

Urban Research has been a successful program both at Directors Lounge Festival and in screenings in London, Hannover, Poznan, Freiburg, Essen, Dordrecht, St. Petersburg and Berlin. International artists present their vision of public space and urban landscapes. How is the condition of the public realm connected with urban space? Can we talk about urbanity as a common figure in urban life at all? Has public space been replaced by the electronic virtual spaces? Or, has public place been bounded, forcefully homogenized and “pacified” by surveillance and private security forces? Are there new developments, definitions and uses that make “public space” lively again? Artists find challenging views and concepts, or more importantly, they question anew the common concepts of urbanity.

UR1   Urban Research | Tomorrow, Night and Day

In the Aboriginal tradition “Dreamtime” is the ancient time of the myths. However, in Western concepts, the waking dreams in cities rather manifest a possible future, something that has the potential to become manifest from its yet virtual possibilities. According to Walter Benjamin, the day-dreaming of popular myths discloses potentials of future changes; and following those principles, the Situationists propagated dérive, the aimless strolling in the city as a cure against the false desires of the society of spectacle. The artists in this Urban Research program use vernacular, mundane urban settings and landscapes for their dreaming and imaginative shifts from the ordinary and expected. They may be read as much more than just a happy visual game.

Wolf D. Schreiber DE The Great Art Swindle 3min 30sec 2009

Steven Ball UK Aboriginal Myths of South London 10min 30sec 2010

Pilvi Takala FI Easy Rider 4min 25sec 2006

Joe Merrell UU Tomorrow Never Comes 4min 15sec 2009

Elena Näsänen FI Drive 9min 15sec 2003

Sophie Warren & Jonathan Mosley UK Fallout  9min 27sec 2010

Maarit Suomi-Väänänen FI Jalkeilla Taas (Up And About Again) 10min 49sec 2009

Gerard Freixes Ribera ES Alone – AislaDO 3min 20sec 2007

Henry Gwiazda US Claudia and Paul 5:05 p.m. 6min 38sec 2008

Yaron Lapid UK Night Meter 4min 23sec 2000

Wilfried Agricola de Cologne DE Encoded 5min 30sec 2008

Anders Weberg SW Elsewhereness:Yokohama 7min 00sec 2008

Pilvi Takala FI Amusement Park 1min 00sec 2001

Anders Weberg Elsewhereness:Yokohama

For more information on Urban Research program
Link click here: www.richfilm.de


La Calle – la Habitación; Urban Research Selection

Di 24.11., 19:30

Kommunales Kino Freiburg

Alter Wiehre Bahnhof

Urachstr. 40

79102  Freiburg im Breisgau

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La Calle – la Habitación (The Street – the Habitat)

Urban Research at Kommunales Kino Freiburg

The film program Urban Research comprises works of artists who explore urbanity in contemporary cities with experimental means. In recent times, a growing number of contemporary artists have come forward with personal and challenging views onto the changing urban environment. This selection of films brings together films from the realm of Latin lingua, mainly Latin America but also Portugal, Chicago and a Latin enclave in Vienna. The artists’ views reflect daily life and they “deturn” or shift perceptions towards the less ordinary. Some settings appear more common than expected – in certain ways, urban life has become internationally similar and the artists request the audience to read subtleties and notes in between lines.
Presented by Klaus W. Eisenlohr

More infos: http://www.richfilm.de/filmUpload/1-framesURkoki.html

Links: http://www.koki-freiburg.de/