Special Programmes
We are fine: Thailand - Country Focus
We are Fine is not representative of the entirety of short films from Thailand, but it concentrates on works that stand apart from the genres of fiction and documentary. These shorts give glimpses of their creators’ personalities; they are experimenting with the creation of genre-hybrids, and they are operating at the intersection of cinema and the fine arts.
We are Fine is a collection of films which discreetly deal with everyday life in Thailand. They show the things that are not part of their national audiovisual mainstream: regular lives of regular people. The films take us out of Bangkok and into the countryside and back again. They question the value of work as a life-task and they show dreams of a different life as well as the intertwined nature of consumerism and politics. They are fascinated with both the profane and the supernatural and they explore the interrelation between the cinema, memories and the beyond.
On Searching and Finding: The Meaning of Life
Never fear the great questions! The search for the meaning of life is such an elementary undertaking that hardly anyone ever does it- even if it is just because the answer could cause a headache. This double programme offers tangible filmic examples of individual and collective quests for a deeper meaning – from the Pudelklub to the Virgin Mary. The meaning of life? It is wherever you are ready to find it.
Budding Talents – The Juvenile Programme
After last year’s success our festival will once again present a programme independently chosen by six curators aged sixteen and seventeen. They screened countless shorts from the last three years as well as contemporary submissions to the festival, and assembled two programmes. The chosen films come from all genres (fiction, documentary, experimental and animated) and they are not just about adolescent heroes or subjects but were often selected because the curators found them interesting for other reasons. Thus, Budding Talents offers a unique view at juvenile preferences and the subjects important to young people today.
The programme will be hosted by the young curators themselves.
Sound, Picture, Action
What happened when the paths of the musical vanguard, action art and film crossed in the last 50 years? These rare filmic gems were unearthed by Hanna Nordholt and Fritz Steingrube. Among others, they show John Cage at a popular American quiz show, Mauricio Kagel and a Fluxus activist producing the short “Antithesis” and an animation about a Stockhausen composition by the brothers Quay.
Dirty Diaries
What does feminist porn made by women look like? This was Swedish filmmaker Mia Engberg’s question in the face of the predominantly monotonous depiction of human intercourse. As early as in 2001, Engberg had been the centre of worldwide interest at festivals with the first Swedish lesbian erotic film made by an exclusively female crew: “Selma & Sofie”. With the help of the Swedish Film Institute, Mia Engberg commissioned twelve filmmakers to create erotic shorts according to their individual preferences and ideas for the Dirty Diaries. These shorts oscillate between soft- and hard-core, homo and hetero, they play with the pornographic film’s stereotypes and approach their subject with a playful or serious mien.
The programme premiered in Sweden in 2009. We will be the first German festival to show all twelve films in the original programme.
Thunder & Roar
Cars: Speed, Noise, Ecstasy. In this programme, combustion engines are the stars and carriages are the sidekicks. In all films, engines are thundering, wailing and humming. Muscle cars are chasing down the strip, motor bikes are climbing the wall of the “Motodrom” and even small cars are giving all they’ve got. Deafening motor noises, fast cuts and racy camera movements will turn the cinema into a rollercoaster.
