Films

USA, France, Germany 2023, 90 min
by Zeva Oelbaum, Sabine Krayenbühl

OBSESSED WITH LIGHT pulls back the curtain on Loïe Fuller (1862-1928), a wildly original performer and pioneer of modern dance. Creating a dialogue between the past and the present, the documentary delves into the astonishing influence Fuller's work has on contemporary culture including artists like Taylor Swift, Bill T. Jones, Shakira and William Kentridge, Red Hot Chili Peppers among many others. Fuller developed a completely new kind of spectacle which combined dance, fabric and movement. It's about a woman who became famous on her own terms – unapologetic about her body type and open about her sexuality. [auTLOOK]

Germany 2023, 100 min
by Jörg Herrmann

The rediscovery of an author of the century: Helga Schubert. Awarded the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize at her second attempt at the age of 80. Author, poet, chronicler.Somewhere in the nowhere between Schwerin and Wismar, 83-year-old Helga Schubert lives, cares for her 95-year-old ailing husband, former psychology professor and painter Johannes Helm, and writes her stories every day, as she has done for the past decades.From here she sets out, as often as possible, for readings, lectures and receptions, because since winning the Bachmann Prize in the first Corona Summer in 2020 she has once again become a popular public figure.

2022, 76 min
by Roman Hüben

Douglas Sirk was the master of cinematic melodrama. This fascinating, emotional portrait reveals that the ultimate melodrama was Sirk’s own life. It is the key to understanding his work. He discovered Zarah Leander and made her a star in the mid-1930s. Later, in the USA, he catapulted Rock Hudson from no-name to screen icon. And in the 1950s Douglas Sirk reinvented the melodrama. But who was the man who suddenly left Hollywood at the height of his fame and moved to Switzerland? In interviews with among others Todd Haynes and hitherto unpublished excerpts from his wife’s diaries, the film gets closer to this mysterious genius. We discover a life story marked by hope, disillusionment, love and death. [FFHH22]

Germany, Austria 2022, 96 min
by Claudia Müller

A complex, associative work that embraces contradictions and offers a visual take on the Nobel laureate’s technique of linguistic montage.Wunderkind, scandalous author, traitor to the fatherland, fury of the theater, feminist, fashion-lover, communist, pessimist, language terrorist, rebel, enfant terrible, nest fouler, brilliant, vulnerable artist, Nobel laureate. This film about Elfriede Jelinek, who in 2004 became the first Austrian author to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature, focuses on her artistic approach to language. The montage of archive material with voiceovers and interviews, some of them recently recorded, is told from Jelinek’s point of view. [39 FFMUC]with: Ilse Ritter, Sandra Hüller, Stefanie Reinsperger, Sophie Rois, Maren Kroymann, Martin Wuttke

Germany 2022, 138 min
by Sobo Swobodnik

Ramba Zamba: a theater with handicapped and non-handicapped people/actresses and actors, which has been living and working on inclusive integrative togetherness impressively every day for thirty years now. The film accompanies the mentally and physically impaired actresses and actors for six months through the theatrical production of the play GOLEM, from the beginning of rehearsals to the premiere.In doing so, the film is also partly influenced by the portrayed persons themselves, quasi inclusively co-determined, by them capturing their own view and perception, their view of reality itself on film.

Germany 2022, 86 min
by Laura N. Junghanns, Clara Schmieder

How do you say goodbye to each other after ten years of artistic work together? The documentary shows the last season of an ensemble, gives viewers a unique look behind the scenes of the theater world and takes them on a journey full of magical moments. The worldwide pandemic and the lockdown not only stop the work at the theater in spring of 2020, the documentary work is also significantly influenced by it. The result is a unique portrait of the emotions of artists from this time, who deal with leaving, community and memories.

Switzerland, Germany 2022, 81 min
by Maurizius Staerkle Drux

With his gestures and facial expressions alone, the mime Marcel Marceau captured audiences around the globe for decades. But the tragic background behind his work has remained hidden for a long time. THE ART OF SILENCE sheds new light on his life and unique art form, which his family and companions keep alive to this day.With: Louis Chevalier, Daniel Loinger, George Loinger, Camille Marceau, Aurélia Marceau, u.a.

Germany 2022, 15 min
by Cadenza Zhao

Kassandra Wedel, dancer, actress and all around artist, roams the city picking up sounds and movements from her surroundings to compose her very own music and dance. We explore what sound and music mean to her and witness the process of translating dance into music. She challenges our current perception and understanding of sound and music. Her only advantage? Her deafness.

2021, 80 min
by Sarvnaz Alambeigi

After the revolution of 1979, the gap widened between Iranians in Iran and Iranians abroad. Many people left the country. The next generations born after the revolution in Iran knew nothing about their past or they were completely apathetic about it. A large part of Iranian history was destroyed or burnt in chaos and revolution and what was left for the new generations was an invented history. It is still difficult to discern the lies from the truth. Many Iranians hid their true identities out of fear. Ballet dancers were among these. Stories and histories were left untold, and the old and new generations remained total strangers. This gap grew over the past 40 years. The Tale of Scheherazade is a ballet, portraying a nation and performed and choreographed in two different eras by two completely separate generations of Iranian dancers and inspired by the famous story of Scheherazade in the 1001 Nights. As the film progresses, both groups become Scheherazade the story-teller and tell their own stories for the first time.

2021, 62 min
by Asteris Kutulas

The Liquid Staging project, ELECTRA 21, consists of four films, played simultaneously on four different screens that are placed around the audience area, showing different dance scenes, rehearsals, and fictional fantasies based on the Electra ballet performance by choreographer Renato Zanella. The four films are played synchronously to the same recording of the Electra opera music by Mikis Theodorakis. Electra – a timeless thriller. The father sacrifices the eldest daughter for power and fame. His wife slays him for it years later. Their children Electra and Orest kill her to avenge the father. A circle of hatred and destruction. No happy ending.

Germany 2021, 90 min
by Margarete Kreuzer

An exploration of Sir Michael Caine's career from his early days in 1950s British theatre to gaining Hollywood fame for his contribution to cinema. The Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe winner has appeared in more than 150 films, worked alongside luminaries such as Shirley MacLaine and Laurence Olivier as well as with directors like Paolo Sorrentino and Christopher Nolan. The actor discusses his body of work, private life and the books he has written. German actress Katja Riemann and students from the Hannover University of Music, Drama and Media put some of Caine's acting techniques into practice. Contributors include: Michael Caine, Christopher Nolan, Paolo Sorrentino, David Bailey, Shirley MacLaine.

Germany 2021, 37 min
by Kerstin Hamburg, Michael Baudenbacher, Paul White

Film on the legacy of Friedrich Engels and the discussion of culture of memory. Which forms or symbols of collective memory are significant for us today? The film counteracts an idealization that bores or makes us forget: self-ironic, critical, dancing. [72 Berlinale, efm]A dance film project thematically embracing heritage and memory – on the occasion of the 200th birthday of Friedrich Engels.The larger-than-life bronze statue by Chinese artist Zeng Chenggang depicts the German social theorist, textile entrepreneur and revolutionary Friedrich Engels. He stands on a 40cm high pedestal, weighing 868 kg, in Wuppertal, Germany. This sculptural donation by the People’s Republic of China has triggered many heated discussions. Which forms and symbols of collective memory are significant for us today? Why should we still remember Engels? This dance film aims to shine a light on Engels, his historically relevant ideas and to counteract an idealization that bores or leads to oblivion: questioning, critical thinking, dancing.Interviews and atmospheric scenes are combined and reinforced by dance sequences in this film. (Tanja Liedtke Foundation)

Germany 2021, 91 min
by Jens Meurer

SEASIDE SPECIAL is a love letter to Brexit Britain: a consciously warm-hearted look at Britain’s only remaining “End-of-the-Pier” variety show – far away from London – as the town of Cromer and the cast prepare for the 2019 summer season.The film portrays a town from a different time, full of quintessentially British types, but which also offers a highly topical outlook: It’s about attitude, craftsmanship, and authenticity. It’s about community and values, about the humor of our British neighbors, their originality, and their quirks – which we as Europeans will sorely miss. [55 Hof IFF]

2021, 86 min
by Schahab Kermani

The Syrian-catholic community of Al-Khalil is renowned for its work of dialogue and close relationship to Islam. During the Syrian civil war, several members of the community were kidnapped by the terrorist group ISIS. Fleeing the persecution, some of the monks and nuns found a new home in the city of Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. With the expanding conflict they took in many displaced families in the monastery. As one of the different programs hosted by the community, a theatre workshop took place. The participants built a play based on the book Conference of the Birds by the islamic mystic Fariduddin Attar, intertwining the Sufi allegories with their own personal experiences.

Germany 2020, 124 min
by Bettina Böhler

Director Christoph Schlingensief's 'Heimat' films (Georg Seeßlen), performance art, installations and provocative theatrical, television, operatic and artistic productions shaped the cultural and political discourse in Germany for two decades before his death in 2010 at just 49 years of age.SCHLINGENSIEF – A Voice that Shook the Silence by Bettina Böhler is the first film that attempts to exhaustively document the vast spectrum of this exceptional artist's oeuvre.The film focuses on Christoph Schlingensief as a 'family person' (Schlingensief on Schlingensief) who dealt equally with his relationship to his parents and his relationship to Germany in his work. 'SCHLINGENSIEF – A Voice that Shook the Silence' traces his development from pubescent filmmaker with an artistic bloodlust to revolutionary stage director in Berlin and Bayreuth, and, ultimately, to Germany's 'national artist,' who was purportedly venerated by all and invited to create the German Pavilion for the 2011 Venice Biennale.'SCHLINGENSIEF – A Voice that Shook the Silence' explores Schlingensief's untiring, and ultimately inexhaustible, love-hate relationship to Germany, to its high culture, and to its petite-bourgeoisie sentiments – which he attributed to himself more than anyone else – via scenes of East Germans being made into sausage (Blackest Heart), shouts of 'Kill Helmut Kohl!' (documenta X) and an attempt to rehabilitate Wagner (Parsifal).With: Christoph Schlingensief, Margit Carstensen, Irm Hermann, Alfred Edel, Udo Kier, Sophie Rois, Bernhard Schütz, Helge Schneider, Dietrich Kuhlbrodt, Susanne Bredehöft, Tilda Swinton

Germany 2009, 92 min
by Rainer Hoffmann, Anne Linsel

The dance performance KONTAKTHOF bears the unmistakable signature of Pina Bausch: it deals with forms of human contact, the encounters between the sexes, and the search for love and tenderness with all the attendant anxieties, yearnings and doubts. It is about feelings, which pose a big challenge, particularly for young people.For almost a year teenagers from over eleven schools in Wuppertal went on an emotional journey. Every Saturday, 40 students, aged between 14 to 18 years, rehearsed under the direction of the Bausch-dancers Jo-Ann Endicott and Bénédicte Billiet and under the intense super-vision of PinaBausch herself. The film DANCING DREAMS by Anne Linsel and Rainer Hoffmann accompanies the rehearsal process culminating in the opening night. We watch the teenagers making their first, still clumsy attempts to transform the subjects of the dance performance into motion and choreography and to develop an own, individual body expression. They discover themselves in a process, which leads great personal growth. Gentle and shy but also aggressive contacts condensate to individual experiences that many of the teenagers encounter for the first time on stage.Pina Bausch has always encouraged the young dancers "to be themselves." It is behind their own movements, fears, feelings and desires that their personal Dancing Dreams become visible. At the end each of them has not only grown up, but above all has become more self-confident, independent and more sceptical facing prejudices. Employing an unusual adjacency, the film introduces the young protagonists in sensitive ways, it culminates in drawing a portrait of an entire generation.Pina Bausch died on June 30th, 2009. "Dancing Dreams - Teenagers Perform "Kontakthof" by PinaBausch" shows the last motion pictures and the last interview with the world-famous dancer and choreographer.