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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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Details:
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Z-Bar
http://www.z-bar.de
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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
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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 Screening:
Doris Schmid
projektionen
Thursday, 25 September 2014
21:00
Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte
The artist Doris Schmid, who lives in Berlin, works in very subtle ways with the meaning of images, and against it. She uses the instance of implied narratives, or better saying the seduction of narration as an opportunity to enhance other image qualities such as perceptions of time, augmented spacial illusions, the vanishing of the image, or its apparition. Schmid for this purpose uses layering of video images, and then condenses them by a meticulous editing process.
Layers bring different or similar images together and create a multi-dimensional image composition. Initially however, the layers are being created by projecting on 3-dimensional surfaces, instead of digital compositing. These surfaces may be hand-made cut-outs that look like drawings from stills, or they may be moving surfaces, projections from a car or a train onto houses; but they are always closely related to the moving image in some ways. The final videos seem to have an analogue and performative quality, and they thus unsettle the common image perceptions of film.
The artist will be available for Q&A. Curated by Klaus W. Eisenlohr.
Artist Links:
http://www.dorisschmid.net/
Links:
Directors Lounge
http://www.directorslounge.net
Details:
http://www.richfilm.de/currentUpload/
Z-Bar
http://www.z-bar.de
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Directors Lounge Screening:
Bernd Lützeler
Filmi Fundas
Donnerstag, 28. August 2014
21:00
Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte
Bernd Lützeler
with Eric Wilhelm Da Cruz
(German:)
Bernd Lützeler arbeitet als Künstler und Filmemacher sowohl mit analogem Film, als auch mit digitalen Medien. In seinen Arbeiten beschäftigt er sich mit der Ästhetik und Wahrnehmung von Bild und Ton und deren Wechselwirkungen mit Technologie und Gesellschaft. Ein weiterer thematischer Schwerpunkt sind die unterschiedlichen Erscheinungsformen des bewegten Bildes in der indischen Alltagskultur. Diese Themen setzt er nicht nur in linearen Filmprojekten, sondern auch in Film- und Raum-Installationen um. Einige der heute präsentierten Arbeiten sind aus Kollaborationen mit anderen Künstlern hervorgegangen, u.a. mit Kolja Kunt und mit seinem langjährigem Kollegen Eric Wilhelm da Cruz, der darüber hinaus auch einen eigenen Film zeigen wird.
(English:)
Bernd Lützeler, artist and film enthusiast who works with Super-8 and 35mm, also combines film and video in multi media installation work. In his work he is concerned with sound and image as distinct interfering media and their relations with technology and society. Also, he takes a specific interest in aspects of the audio-visual pop culture of India. He is a strong collaborator in order to create and exhibit. He worked with Kolja Kunt and Eric Wilhelm da Cruz on several projects. Part of the presentation will be an adapted super-8/video live show of “Eternal Showdown”, and a film by his colleague Eric Wilhelm da Cruz.
Artist Links:
http://www.nomasala.com/
Links:
Directors Lounge
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Details:
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Z-Bar
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Directors Lounge Screening:
Elaine Tedesco
Whispering
Thursday, 31 July 2014
21:00
Z-Bar
Bergstraße 2
10115 Berlin-Mitte
This is set of videos by Brasilian artist Elaine Tedesco, a selection of works created between 1988 – 2012 and a work in process that she is realizing in Berlin. Divided into 4 groups: Video performances, domestic video notes, conversations and photography, it shows estrangements on looks at the daily life. Elaine Tedesco currently stays in Berlin at an artistic residence promoted by Instituto Goethe.
Artist Links:
http://www.comum.com/elainetedesco/
http://www.goethe.de/ins/br/poa/ver/res/de12352197.htm
Links:
Directors Lounge
http://www.directorslounge.net
Details:
http://www.richfilm.de/currentUpload/
Z-Bar
http://www.z-bar.de