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most touching Anniversary-DVD most touching 25th Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival Anniversary-DVD Between Media For 25 years the team of curators of the Kassel Do- exploration, and a precise selection. The compilation At the beginning there was the dream of cumentary Film and Video Festival have compiled of the programs “Between Media”, “Between Space”, our own personal cinema: “The shy expo- innovative impulses and up-to-date developments “Between Humans” follow parameters of content and sure of our dearest. A dramatic represen- in the realms of the moving image. The emphasis form so that their successions always produce a new tation of our preferences. A cinema with lies – loyal to its name – on documentary works in “long” film, similar to the programs in the short film a garage and a bar. Exhibiting the medium all their variations. More than 3,000 works were section. ‘cinema’ to you as well as to us.” Quoted as such from the 1st ever Filmladen-program screened to a broad, open-minded public during the in June 1981. For 27 years now this dream course of the festival’s history. So, how can you pick The synopsis of the “Anniversary-DVD” presents a a “sensible” selection that in a way functions as a broad spectrum of categories of documentary work, has become reality. One of the Filmladen’s 25year memory? such as essays, observations, animated documenta- main events is the Kassel Documentary ries, performance, and photo-film. Information about Film and Video Festival. In Germany, this While strict chronological considerations guided the personal touching points of the festival curators mergence of cinema and festival activi- the selection for the 20year Anniversary-DVD (each is shown in their statements that can be found in the ties is universal and leads to a series of Dokfest-year was represented by one film), new DVD-Booklet. positive synergies. Consequently it comes as no surprise that the reflections on thoughts were taken into account for the Anniversary-DVD “Most Touching”. After a restriction of length This DVD would not exist without the generous films, film making, media and the changing to 15 minutes per work, the view quickly solidified support of the featured filmmakers who made their of production conditions always played a that further formal restrictions would not take centre works available to us without charge. This is why we central role at the various editions of the stage, but rather personal connections of the festival wholeheartedly say: Thank you and respect! Dokfest. The skeptical position concerning the “New Media” that existed at first was curators: Which films were remembered? Because they were so outstanding, so special, because they We also thank all persons and institutions that helped quickly resolved and resulted in a diverse moved us so much? Furthermore, a festival such as us realize this DVD. Firstly to the production team dialog about the transition from analog the Kassel Dokfest always creates an interconnec- Oliver Schulte, Maik Timm, Steffen Härtel-Klopprogge, to digital media. Nevertheless do we like tion between the film-creators and the audience, makks moond, Michael Richmann and all people that the return of the “good old” films as a re- between the film and reality, between people and helped with the research. Furthermore, for the gene- curring “guest”. their habitats. rous support of the Dr. Wolfgang Zippel-Stiftung, the The program “Between Media” starts off Touching points thus coin the selection, which in Hessische Filmförderung, the Hessisches Ministerium with the burning of a video camera. This turn divided into three thematic programs: “Between für Wissenschaft und Kunst, Hessen-Media, the Kul- displays the camera’s emancipatory value Media”, “Between Space”, “Between Humans”. They turamt der Stadt Kassel, Kulturstiftung der Kasseler but also its function as a surveillance deal with issues that were recurrent themes through- Sparkasse, Landesanstalt für Privaten Rundfunk tool. Furthermore, it illuminates on the out the history of the festival. On the other hand they Hessen, MEDIA and the Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung diverse possibilities of media utilization represent the conviction and the orientation of the Hessen-Thüringen without whom this Anniversary- as well as its manipulation and finally Kassel Dokfest: Passion for the cause, appetite for DVD could also not have been realized. ends with an hommage to film and film making. Between Media Between Media This is an emergency/Notfall Kain shows that a video camera can have influences on movement does not stem from her own body but from Schüssel Anna Berger K arawahn social processes. Well meant as a utopia, the “right” “the outside”; from the camera with which she was Germany 2000 | 3:40 Min. | no dialogs Germany 1988 | 4:32 Min. | no dialogs utilization of the media especially since the rise of filmed. Through her actions and movements Franzi is 18th K assel Documentary Film and Video 6th Kassel Documentary Film Festival, 1989 YouTube has sadly not been realized (despite of the confronted with the borders of her living space (the Festival, 2001 millions of cameras). (GWV) screen). The figure Franzi and her tragic-comic expe- (…) always in the focus of events: a camera is shoo- riences are the product of an artificial world of images; SCHÜSSEL reveals our everyday-life. Everyone wants ting her death (occured on February 19th, 1988) an ironic fiction. to watch television. Mister Stoecker makes sure that In the Event of Amnesia the City Will we get reception. Recall… Denis Beaubois A captivating idea, consequently converted as rare- the medium “video”. As a paradox and the new section’s Australia 1997 | 7:22 Min. | no dialogs ly before. It’s sheer fun to watch Franzi how she The mass medium utilized as the entrance to the starting period , the “death in the flames” triggers off 15th K assel Documentary Film and Video measures the limits of her telly. A fine image for the world. When observing everyday life, Anna Berger the era of the “new” medium. The result of the perfor- Festival, 1998 addiction to formatting and standardization concer- reveals in a beautiful way how untroubled “televi- ning the apparatus television, which is guarded by a sion” can very well be connected with physical effort. decisive hierarchy. (CH) The recipient’s daily tortures are comparable to those In 1989 the Kassel Dokfest expanded its categories by mance was shown on the big screen and the “burned” object was exhibited as the Dokfest’s first installation Twelve sites were selected around the city of Sydney ever on the premises of the café Vis-à-Vis. (GWV) where surveillance cameras are prominently placed. relating to the advertising slogans of the German film industry: “Big films are for cinemas and not for small The locations were mapped out and the stage for IN THE EVENT OF AMNESIA… was created. A pilgri- Paramatrix Benjamin Seide, Henry Schmidt Free Society Paul Garrin mage was made to the sites daily for a period of three Germany 1995 | 5 Min. | German USA 1988 | 4:00 Min., Excerpt: 0:30 Min. | English days. Upon arrival the performer attempted to engage 12th K assel Documentary Film and Video 7th K assel Documentary Film Festival and with the electronic eye. The performers actions were Festival, 1995 Video program, 1990 directed to the camera which adopted the role of au- screens.” (GWV) Video Hacking Manuel Saiz Great Britain 1999 | 4 Min. | English dience. No permission was sought for the use of these A vision: the paramatrix. A three-dimensional, virtual 17th K assel Documentary Film and Video A video clip on the glorification of war, militarism, po- sites. The performer arrived unannounced and carried and ever-growing net. A clear-cut basic form. Each Festival, 2000 lice state and violence. An aggressive collage accom- out his actions. participant receives her/his individual virtual box, the paracube: a virtual mailbox, living room, playground, VIDEO HACKING is a fictional documentary about a vi- working on the tape for a year when he randomly wit- Talk to her! The way she’s staring at you! Beaubois laboratory, studio, temple... Along with that comes a deo art activist that manipulates tapes in video shops nessed the riots at Tomkins Square. The police drove has shown how it works. Back then, it convinced us set of modelling tools, an “import bucket” and an hour standing for chaos and against copyright. The Hitch- away homeless people from a park because nearby- immediately and it still does today. Against the back- of counselling with the green guru (“Parabär”). The cock classic “Vertigo” serves as an object of demon- living residents had complained. Garrin offered his ground of the daily surveillance, his poetic and politi- new tenant can decorate his or her shack with the help stration. footage to two TV-channels. As a consequence, this cal manual is more up to date than ever. (VK) of the modelling tools. One parabyte memory capacity panied by the music of Elliot Sharp. Garrin was already lead to a disciplinary inquiry within the New York Police will be at his or her disposal. Those were the days… you hardly get any VHS-tapes in the next-door video shop, they use the space for Department. Franzi Katharina Wibmer In 1995, the paramatrix immediately captivated us. DVDs instead. Not an easy one for potential video ha- The leitmotifs of the early Dokfest editions as well Germany 1993 | 4:39 Min. | no dialogs Maybe we didn’t know back then but only guessed: ckers. The digital media of all (which actually makes as the years of the political video movement were 11th K assel Documentary Film and Video the paramatrix is neither phantasy nor utopia. It’s no material manipulations easier!) has lead to tougher linked to the key word “counter public”. Numerous Festival, 1994 less than an accurate vision of our networked media working conditions for “cultural jammers”: those, who reality. Only one thing stays unclear till now: who is want to follow the footsteps of Saiz’s art activists. But the big green “Parabär”? (VK) the one and only question remains the same: who media locations and video collectives utilized the “emancipatory” media technology to give a voice to Franzi is a film about Franzi. What differentiates the speechless. Applied in the right way, Paul Garrin Franzi from other people is, that the impulse for her owns the world of images? (VK) Between Media Between Media Der Kinomann Thomas Frickel states of anxiety, hysteria, difficulties in breathing, loss Disclaimer Michael Curran Germany 1990 | 14 Min. | German of balance. The harms caused by a visit to the cinema Great Britain 1993 | 5 Min. | English 7th K assel Documentary Film Festival and must no longer be ignored. And that is why we must 11th K assel Documentary Film and Video Video program, 1990 “Fight the cinema!- Eliminate the cinema!” Festival, 1994 He arrives on a moped with a trailer, his tool is a mobile Had I seen this educational film about the cinema’s The characters and events portrayed in this videotape 35mm-cinema projector from the year 1956. Siegfried harmful effects earlier, had I maybe had the chance to are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to characters Scheuerl has brought film culture to the smallest villages avoid the worst! But it’s too late for me: I’m infected known either living or dead is purely coincidental. in the Thuringian region of Zeulenroda for thirty years. with the cinema’s magic and I blame the Dokfest for The film accompanies the “Cinema Man” on one of his that! (CM) last tours – an amusing, but also a little melancholy DISCLAIMER was a shock to me at the time and actually still is. This designation labels the responsibility for view on a form of cinema culture that could not survive potentially violated copy- and personality rights and is Mini Cine Tupy Sérgio Bloch displayed in the credits of a film. In Michael Curran’s Brasil 2002 | 10 Min. | Portuguese | English st film, however, it is an actress (Herlinde Smet) who is When the wall came down a bit of its cinema culture 20th K assel Documentary Film and Video obviously forced to state that all characters and the – the mobile cinema – vanished, too. The “Cinema Festival, 2003 film’s plot are fictional. It is this statement that she under the economic conditions of a free market. Man” simply became unnecessary and with him his gets punished for – and then she has to repeat the trips on the moped where he transported cardboard José Zagati, trash gatherer in Sitio das Madres on the sentence over and over again as if it was false or sim- boxes full of films to villages, cinemas or schools. outskirts of São Paulo, has set up a small movie the- ply not well enough presented. It is also shocking to And finally the tradition of the “Dreimillionenfilmme- ater in the garage of his house made from materials see with how simple means an extreme dramatization terbewegung ” died out: this rewarded the projection- found in the garbage, to show movies for the kids in the of a formal marginality has taken place here. You li- ist with a bonus for the careful handling of screening neighborhood. The projector is unprotectedly exposed terally become frightened of the feature film! At the copies. (FT) on the sidewalk to create some distance to the screen. same time DISCLAIMER lifts exactly those theoretical The cinema opens every Sunday and the screening media-related thoughts that were illuminated by Uwe starts at nightfall. Unless it rains. Tickets are free. Hermanns and me at the vast special project of the Kampf dem Kino Gerd Gockell, Ute Heuer 11th Documentary Film and Video Festival. (HKV) Germany 2002 | 5 Min. | German Passion for the cinema! It connects people world- 19th K assel Documentary Film and Video wide. The opening film of the 20th Dokfest reveals Festival, 2002 how films with “mind and heart” are brought to the big screen under difficult circumstances. This expe- KAMPF DEM KINO (“Fight the Cinema”) is an educatio- rienced passion is mirrored in several of the cinemas nal as well as a propaganda film about the ill effects of in Kassel. (GWV) the cinema. Beware! Watching those cinematographic films can cause serious harm! It should not be allowed to children and adolescents to watch these films! The effects of sexually explicit films are of particular danger. They are responsible for a decline in shame and lead to a complete confusion of moral values! Damages caused by cinemas can occur in a variety of forms: Between Space Between Space Weltgenie Alberto Signetto press coverage. Nothing is known for certain about the Italy, FRG 1988 | 4:30 Min. | no dialogs further fate of the table. Rumour has it that it was di- 7th K assel Documentary Film Festival and vided into ten separate parts and was spread out over Video program, 1990 ten different squats. dered itself political in orientation. Since Shot on a breath-taking and stunning location the “A table is a table” claimed Peter Bichsel once in its foundation in 1981 the issues have al- camera drifts like a maelstrom through a personal in- his wonderful deconstruction story. And it is the sto- tered – so have the manners of filmmaking terpretation of Lingotto’s urban history. People appear ry that turns the everyday appliance into a political – and the filmmaker’s motivation for ma- only to disappear again at the horizon of the image and symbol. The uprising against the established system king committed films has been modified to make space for new sceneries. A free adaption of the of justice was prepared strategically on the corners likewise. The intention to illuminate on life of Nietzsche and the writings of Gottfried Benn. of this table, in feminist protest actions breasts were The Kassel Dokfest has always consi- the relations of domination and power, to bared and – lost in thought – Elfriede Jelinek and display the frontlines of conflicts, and An exploration of space of a special kind from the age Heiner Müller drew stick figures on the table. And, of to question traditional agreements – or of analog media: the camera measures out a seemingly course, people ate and drank, discussed and argued, even withdrawing them – has remained the endless factory hall without digital gadgets and stages cried and laughed, and put their fists down, at and on same on both sides. Thus, the spaces cre- pillars of “world history” in the spaces in between. it – just as in real life! (IS) ated in people’s heads or even in real life While at it the film maneuvers closely on the borders to emerging from such actions and attitudes kitsch without ever having to make a definite decision. ideally lead to change. According to Umberto Eco the effects of art – such as Los Angeles: The 60’s in the 90’s Ed. de la From the masses of screened works a se- impetuses for thought, commotions and emotions – are Torre, Melissa Totten, Bruce Yonemoto lection of films has been chosen which effects kitsch can evoke likewise. In any case WELTGE- USA 1993 | 8 Min. | English fill the space in between in rather unusu- NIE opens up spaces in one’s head. (GWV) al manners and ways, i.e. by modification, 11th K assel Documentary Film and Video Festival, 1994 poetry of words, exact observations, or even excess-staging. 5,5 x 1,5 Meter Barbara Kasper, Gregor This video caught my attention for the first time as Schuster, Lothar Schuster part of the splendidly curated program by Kathy Rae Germany 1998 | 13 Min. | German Huffman and Carole Ann Klonarides of the Linzer Ars 15th K assel Documentary Film and Video Electronica in 1994. Actually it is a fragment of a Festival, 1998 portray of Los Angeles that draws on two important books: Reyner Banham’s “Architecture of Four Eco- The film tells the curious story of the most famous table logies.” (1991) and “City of Quartz” (1990) by Mike of the left scene in Berlin: bought by the first socialist Davis. It is a comparison of two perspectives of the barrister collective at a flee-market in Charlottenburg city in the disguise of a sequence of images which for 800 Deutsch Mark in 1969, it passed many illustre is graphically and musically smart: Los Angeles as a stations such as the Commune I, the Red Aid, a flat “utopia”, a paradise of beaches and movie heroes; share of carpenters, and so on. In 1979 it arrived right and Los Angeles as a “dystopia”, the end of Western on time for the foundation of the TAZ in their editorial civilization. It is a very impressive juxtaposition and il- offices, to then be kidnapped by autonomous squatters lustration of two sociological studies – we simply had as a punishment for perceived counter-revolutionary to show this in the hated and loved Kassel. (HKV) Between Space Between Space Under the Skin Game Diane Nerwen Bush administration like no other. Pascal Lièvre takes Detail Avi Mograbi School trips to Bonn, the big demonstration for peace USA 1996 | 17:30 Min. | English Bush’s famous speech back to the American home- Israel 2004 | 8 Min. | Arabic, Hebrew, against the NATO-double resolution in Bonn, filming 14th K assel Documentary Film and Video land and creatively changes its meaning. A love song English | English st before and after the decision to move the federal go- Festival, 1997 of a special kind: make love, stop war. (GWV) 21st K assel Documentary Film and Video vernment from Bonn to Berlin, the visit of numerous Festival, 2004 video festivals in Bonn – I connect several memories UNDER THE SKIN GAME is an experimental documen- with Bonn. If I were one of the others, I would say: tary which examines “Norplant”, the contraceptive Der Peter Schroeter und Berger DETAIL is indeed a detail. It is a detail of my next fea- Wolfgang Hogekamp and Sebastian Krämer are ma- implants, and how it has been advocated as a device Germany 2005 | 6:30 Min. | German ture film, but more importantly, it is a detail of the rea- king an interesting suggestion… (GWV) for governmental reproductive and social control. This 23rd K assel Documentary Film and Video lity of how we live in Israel and the occupied territories. tape explores “Norplant” as a potential legislative Festival, 2006 Yet, this detail is an obscure one, at least for us Israelis, not that we could not see it if we wished, we prefer not A thousand reasons why I became a socia- been historically victimized on the basis of gender, A German microcosm. The filmmaker observes the po- to expose ourselves to those endless details that make list. Part I Anne-Britt Rage race, and class. liceman Peter and creates an almost intangible, most the lives of 3.5 millions Palestinians unbearable. We Norway 2003 | 4 Min. | Norwegian | English st uninteresting picture of an every day man in order to tell ourselves many stories as to what reality is like but 21st K assel Documentary Film and Video comment on the absurdity of the surveillance itself. the truth is that we lost the ability to look at our own Festival, 2004 “tool” to be used against the poor, and those who have The tape really gets to the inside. Not so much because it shows the notorious images of punctured cell actions. (Avi Mograbi) membrane. But because it makes the anatomy of a I thought it a refreshing idea that a normal citizen violent intrusion and the access to individual bodies could keep state power under surveillance. The film- Rarely it is the length of a film title that holds any in- by state power physically detectable. Not a game maker himself becomes the observing organ because formation towards the depth of a work. I experienced anyone would like to take part in. Neither then nor he considered his civil liberties restricted during a this twice. Jonas Mekas “As I Was Moving Ahead Anne-Britt Rage compiled and commented on the today. (VK) demonstration. He researches in depth and discovers Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses Of Beauty” is one Super 8-material her parents filmed while on distant details of the life of the policeman Peter. These efforts of them, the other being Avi Mograbi‘s “How I Learned trips with her daughter during the 1970s. It shows the don’t bring him any further and he thus stops his ob- To Overcome My Fear And Love Arik Sharon”. Even if touristy view of the owners, who see exotic worlds L’axe du mal (Axis of Evil) Pascal Lièvre servations for they cannot always lead to the exposure DETAIL is quite the opposite in both title- and screen- and their inhabitants first and foremost as things that France, Canada 2003 | 5:45 Min. | French | of a criminal. ing-length: Mograbi is a master of observation and can be bought. Many years later the film material English st The filmmakers take up the issue unpretentiously with precise densification. (WH) gives good reasons for the daughter why to distance 21st K assel Documentary Film and Video pictures (of evidence) and static camera perspectives Festival, 2004 just as an observation looks like. It was at that point First part of an investigation why people choose to be on the left side of politics. herself from her parents’ perspective and become a socialist. For me this video is most capturing be- that I managed to smile about the depressing issue of Bonn Wolfgang Hogekamp, Sebastian cause the sober, anywhere-anyplace holiday images state surveillance for once. (KD) Krämer become a warning sign through the autobiographical menacer la paix du monde” (Armed and Threatening Germany 2002 | 4:30 Min. | German commentary. On top of that it is interesting to see how World Peace) from the January 31st, 2002 issue of “Le 20th K assel Documentary Film and Video the video visually describes a central turning point in Monde”, the lyrics of L’AXE DU MAL are sung to the me- Festival, 2003 the life of a person. It remains an exceptional image Citing an article on George W. Bush “Armé pour lody of the original Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora song “And When the Rain Begins to Fall”. as well how Anne-Britt Rage escaped my attempt of The Video stems from a series of so called “poetry presenting a panel discussion about her film by sim- clips” in which poets and slamers perform their texts in ply hiding behind me. (HKV) If George Bush actually coined the phrase “Axis of selected surroundings. BONN is an observation regar- Evil”, cannot be ascertained beyond doubt. But the ding 9/11. The poet Sebastian Krämer reaches a sur- term has become a symbol of the ignorance of the prising realization when the city of Bonn is concerned. Between Space Between Humans Revolutionary Song Istvan Kantor Canada 2005 | 9:30 Min | English 24th K assel Documentary Film and Video Festival, 2007 Social relations, sympathies, feelings, The film about the cinematic mayhem of video clips is love or in a nutshell: what people con- about the 16-year-old Istvan Kantor’s trip to Paris in nects or divides has always been present 1966. He remembers a haircut and a struggle with his in the festival program und constantly in father. the curators’ focus. And this is not only The video works by Istvan Kantor have accompanied perience but because it is exciting to see me for many years. Often distressing, however always how connections are being made, emotions fascinating too. They left traces in my mind because are being expressed and dramas are being of their radicality. He and his work polarize – and that solved. because it affects one’s own world of ex- is why he had his Dokfest-premier only in 2007. This time the committee members agree because his video Among numerous portraits in the long comprises everything regarding the relations of pow- film sector, creative program titles were er: the video revolution, the individual, and the real re- found for the short film sector in order volution come together precisely. And as it is for me: I to form a suitable frame for “relation- don’t like to go to the hairdressers either.. (GWV) ship works” such as “In the circle of loved ones”, “Between us”, “Relating to relations”, “bizarre liaison” or “To live love”. In a synopsis including 12 short films, the program “Between Humans” reflects on the entire (emotional) life between people: the longing, the search for partners, the superficiality in the moment of encounter, fulfilled love, seperation and pain, happiness and passion in one’s prime age. Between Humans Between Humans Je changerais d‘avis Benny Nemerofsky A woman sets out to photograph moments of intima- Polyamory or rather multiple love relationships extend THE SWEATLODGE originally shot on Super 8, is an Ramsay cy. On an Internet dating site she writes: “I‘m looking the imagination of the romantic couple relationship by expressive account of male behaviour dramatically Canada 2000 | 4:30 Min. | French | English, for people who would like to be photographed in pu- at least one more person. Without doubt they require choreographed in swirling, fluid camerawork. The German, French st blic, revealing something of themselves...” more energy and communication. But whether or not cast, all men, all dressed in suits, move in a formalized, 18th K assel Documentary Film and Video WHAT I‘M LOOKING FOR, a 15-minute high definition the “big” bliss can be attained by thorough planning ritualized way, sombre, impassive, linked yet separate, Festival, 2001 video, documents this adventure; the connections and elaborate logistics, in the end sensitivities such seemingly no more aware of each other than they are formed at this intersection between virtual and actual as by loyalty and respect decide, but also by violations of themselves. How do you say “I love you” in the information age? public space. The video is a rumination on the nature of feelings by the others. (GWV) Modelling itself after hyper-information channels, JE of photography and the persistence of vision. CHANGERAIS D‘AVIS seeks to express pain, loss and It is a short tale of desire and control. (arsenal expe- regret in a sea of simultaneous translations into Eng- rimental) lish, French, German, American Sign Language and Men! A herd in suits dancing their rituals mysteriously. They are looking for contact wildly and sometimes Akt Inge - Für Franz Hartmut Jahn tenderly. Or is it distance they are really looking for? Germany 1993 | 6 Min. | German The images of the film are touching and stay in one’s weather reports. As new technology allows easier and A seemingly endless sequence of photographs leads 11th K assel Documentary Film and Video memory profoundly. The music is still reverberating. faster communication, what gets lost? to meetings with “The Others”- literally through the Festival, 1994 (GWV) images on show, but furthermore by the inner enliEven in the information age nothing has changed in venment and the translation of what can be seen. The Portray of a 74-year-old act model. A video docu- regard to dear love being the inspiration and impulse re-montage of movements with portays and details of mentary about joy, age and the form of the living Du hast kein Herz (You Have No Heart) for artists. If one wants to and is able to express one’s skin, hair, eye-lashes, facial expressions, all in the body that accompanies our life and fulfils it. Inge is RASKIN (Rotraut Pape, Andreas Coerper) feelings in various ways, simultaneous projection offers sharpness of HD, creates a hyper-real perception of not young anymore and nor is she particularly thin. Germany 1991 | 16 Min. | German | English st many possibilities. Benny managed this in a moving vi- reality, within which the intimacy of extreme close- She works as an act model – there certainly exists 8th K assel Documentary Film and Video deo that makes one listen, makes one smile, and trans- ness almost seems to mesmerize. To be left behind a connection to her own sexuality. A subtle mini- Festival, 1991 ports in a sentimental, desperate and painful manner a after 15 minutes with the feeling of having seen a portray. hint of kitsch. Curious and a little bit in love with Benny, whole film without being able to retell it in scenes. we were all glad about his shy request to cover transport Searching without finding, a poetic truth – it is this In composing the video program we were always on ting; the theme of their relationship is seen in frag- costs from Berlin to Kassel so he would be able to visit the what I am looking for. (JS) the look-out for works that use new creative means ments. Reflections of language and speech are one festival. Although we had all succumbed to the charm of to transport documentary content. Hartmut Jahn en- focus of this work: the mimicry, the breaks, the spaces JE CHANGERAIS D’AVIS already, Benny managed to be- thused us because he furthermore had the courage between the sentences competing with the sentences Two heads, a woman’s and a man’s, are communica- witch us by his appearance for a second time. The work Miss Popularity Wayne Yung to break with a taboo: sexuality in old age. It took and the fragments of sentences. There is normal and the artist truly were one and authentic. For Benny an Germany 2006 | 6:20 Min. | English, German | 15 years for the first cinematic film to tackle this is- dialog. Question and answer. Commentary and contra- important part of his artistic creation in Germany started English ST sue: Andreas Dresens “Wolke 9”. And by the way: The diction. There are also internal dialogs accompanied with the Dokfest. Personally I am very happy that we were 23rd K assel Documentary Film and Video protagonist‘s name is Inge. (CH) by the own bad conscience. Now and then, the pro- allowed to be part of his first steps and for me it is: Je ne Festival, 2006 tagonists get caught up in arguments that culminate in changerais pas d’avis. Good Luck Benny! (SD) speechlessness or they are drawn into a whirlpool of Is it possible to have two boyfriends at the same time? The Sweatlodge Mike Stubbs Certainly, with a bit of organization! A gay man uses Great Britain 1991 | 7 Min. | no dialogs repetitions like a choir. What I‘m Looking For Shelly Silver found footage to describe how he juggles the demands 9th K assel Documentary Film and Video It was just yesterday that I was standing in the shop, USA 2004 | 15 Min. | English of multiple relationships. Festival, 1992 looked at the salesperson and thought “You have no 22nd K assel Documentary Film and Video heart!”. Just say it! If in doubt it is a strike. The collage Festival, 2005 of the detached sentences in combination with the Between Humans Between Humans images is at the same time meaningful and meaning- Very delightedly I watched this kitchen battle fought Calling 911 Jan de Bruin For every couple movement, be it physical or during less. A provocation only reverberating like a multifunctio- with holy seriousness. I relished the unsentimen- The Netherlands 2004 | 6:21 Min. | no conversation, is to be ranked positively. Marianne nal speech-bubble, a mantra outside its context. (AV) tal view into a very old relationship story. Touching dialogs Theunissen and Chris Baaten are tied together – may how the old man licks out the inside of the bowl with 22nd K assel Documentary Film and Video be located in the prison that calls itself relationship childish joy, after his wife had shooed him somewhat Festival, 2005 – and they have to arrange themselves in order to Tolya Rodeon Brodsky ungraciously but also apprehensively through the kit- Israel 2006 | 9 Min. | Russian | English st chen. Are these the happy old ones Ernst Bloch talks Observing a dramatic break-up encounter between a eyes THE AGONY OF A TABLE AND TWO PEOPLE is a 24th K assel Documentary Film and Video about? Who after having learned to live with each man and a woman in the streets of LA, this work sets successful visualization of a conversation that has the Festival, 2007 other through decades can by now only survive to- the personal drama into our overly organized city with potential to save a relationship. (GWV) gether? In any case they baked a topnotch cake and its rescue-networks on standby. Recorded in Los An- On International Women’s Day, when all his fellow alien they danced a Vienna Waltz elegantly. I envy them for geles, CALLING 911 also tells about the idea that reality workers call their distant wives to greet them, Tolya that! (IS) in America is non-existent but rather a constant conti- Canada 2004 | 3:11 Min. | English | English ST nuation of narratives. 22nd K assel Documentary Film and Video remains speechless as he calls Natasha, his wife. His be able to reach a “better” relationship level. In my The goodbyeCOUPLE Michael Toke toothless mouth can’t pronounce anything but a whist- The Paper Wall Sheila Pye, Nicholas Pye ling mumble. Tolya is ready to give up on words, but not Canada 2004 | 11 Min. | no dialogs Being at the right place at the right time and doing 22nd K assel Documentary Film and Video everything the right way, too. These parameters rarely A couple sits on a couch in a foyer at the end of a party. Festival, 2005 combine and create a small documentary master- The man tries to communicate without the use of his piece. An everyday observation that stands out and mouth or his face. The woman listens and interprets on his romantic message. In a long-distance relationship, talking on the phone Festival, 2005 can be difficult. In an attempt at creating closeness, Boxed into twin rooms yet separated by a thin wall, a shows that salvation from a love drama is but merely with boozed, shiny eyes. The words fall silently and you sometimes only manage set phrases that make brother and sister communicate their desires. Stun- possible. (GWV) slowly while the subtitles talk of love and beauty to the you feel even more distant. And then, mutual laughter ning, provocative and perplexing, the pair is irresistible can get you connected instantly. That happens in this to watch as they become increasingly dependent on wonderful film about the creativity of love, which is one another. audience. The Agony of a Table and two People Visiting other festivals invites the spectator to under- Marianne Theunissen, Chris Baaten stand and to get acquainted with the customs and A work, in which intimate physical presence on the The Netherlands 2005 | 4:30 Min. | no traditions of other nations. I encountered this beau- screen touches the inner self, and does not let go. The dialogs tiful work by Michael Toke as a member of the jury at Zusammengebacken (Baked Together) connection between the dark-haird woman and the 23rd K assel Documentary Film and Video the Images festival in Canada. The work helped me Susanne Schulz fair-haired man (siblings? a married couple? lovers?) Festival, 2006 to understand the language better because the cus- Germany 2003 | 10:20 Min. | German | is intensive in a way that makes pictures inescapable English st that would normaly make one look away. The physical The interior of an apartment as a structure in which of superficiality but they also serve as a flywheel of 21st K assel Documentary Film and Video inspections show an undividable connection between the human body functions as a mobile ornament. This communication between people. (GWV) Festival, 2004 two human beings, in the course of which the impos- ornament consists of a man and a woman linked in one of my favourites from Dokfest 2007. (CE) tomary every-day phrases are not just an expression sibility of breaking free is cruel and aspirable at the constant motion, a human sculpture whose flowing BAKED TOGETHER is a snapshot of the 61-year marri- same time. Is there any room left for the I? Is there an silhouette adapts to and enhances the surroundings age of Elly and Kurt Barthel – my grandparents. They I without the Other? (JS) they move through and in. The man and woman are are baking a cake together. The “battle” in the kitchen actually engaged in a constant struggle, wrestling is followed by celebration. A film for everyone who can to maintain their balance and sustain their progress stand each other for so long and those who have wisely through the interior. decided to separate. (Susanne Schulz) 25 years The Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival imprint & Credits Early on in its history the Kassel Documentary Film As the Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival not Idea and concept: Gerhard Wissner Ventura (GWV) and Video Festival expanded from a pure film festival only engages intensively with “new” media but further- to a media festival. This was to pay tribute to the more with changing processes of reception, it was only wholeheartedly involved: Kristina Danzer (KD), The Sam Spiegel Film & TV School, Jerusalem | changing conditions of production and to extend the logical to introduce the presentation of audio-visual Sylvia Drabits (SD), Carolin Ernst (CE), Wieland Höhne Universität Kassel - Zentraler Medienbereich | Video concept of “the documentary” and its presentation. performance art in form of the DokfestLounge as the (WH), Christian Hoffmann (CH), Holger Kube Ventura Data Bank, Chicago | V tape, Toronto The “new” media at the time – video – was already youngest and fourth section of the festival in 2003. (HKV), Verena Kuni (VK), Christine Messerschmidt Kindly supported by: arsenal experimental, Berlin | LUX, London | (CM), Irmhild Scheuer (IS), Jan Schuijren (JS), Frank The Anniversary-DVD was funded and ries, experimental and artistic works have been Supplementing the different sections, extra pro- Thöner (FT), Alexandra Ventura (AV) Organization supported by: Dr. Wolfgang Zippel-Stiftung | interwoven in the festival program since then. The grams are presented regularly. Events and series are and realization: Kati Michalk, Hannah Möller Hessische Filmförderung | Hessisches Ministerium für most important pillars of the festival are the German integrated according to the conceptual orientation of Translations: Sandra Mijatovic, Henrike Rodegro Wissenschaft und Kunst | Hessen-Media | Kulturamt long documentaries and the international short film the festival on up-to-date issues. Accordingly, the DVD Authoring, Encoding: Oliver Schulte, Maik der Stadt Kassel | Kulturstiftung der Kasseler Spar- compilations. Thus every year more than 200 films 2001-program “documenta and film” took a closer Timm (Expanded Cinema) Key Visual: Steffen kasse | Landesanstalt für Privaten Rundfunk Hessen | are screened in three festival cinemas. look at the forthcoming documenta-curators and Härtel-Klopprogge (atelier capra) DVD Menu Design: MEDIA | Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Hessen-Thüringen their individual positions In 2005 “International Vi- makks moond (livinroom.berlin) Booklet: Michael added to the program in 1989. Next to documenta- A further important development took place in 1995: deo Reporting” questioned the historic roots of this Richmann (op45) DVD Production: Volker Bebensee Publisher: the conference interfiction was integrated in the journalistic fashion-trend, and drew attention to its (ROMplett CD & Grafik e. K.) Kasseler Dokumentarfilm- und Videofest festival as a platform for theoretical discussion on limits as well as its possibilities. As a festival within changing issues. In the form of a workshop-seminar the festival the project “SPLICE IN” (2007) presented Thanks to all filmmakers and artists who made Goethestr. 31, 34119 Kassel with lectures the integration of media through the historic and contemporary documentary and fiction their work available to us: Chris Baaten | Denis Beau- 0049-561-7076421 universal-machine computer was debated. The first films, featured round tables and panel discussions bois | Anna Berger | Sérgio Bloch | Rodeon Brodsky | [email protected] interfiction event with the title “Perspectives and exploring “Gender and Politics in Afghanistan, its Michael Curran | Jan de Bruin | Ed. de la Torre | www.filmladen.de/dokfest Myths of the Counter-Public in Data Networks” set a Neighbours and Europe”. Thomas Frickel | Paul Garrin | Gerd Gockell | Ute Heuer Filmladen Kassel e.V. | Wolfgang Hogekamp | Hartmut Jahn | Istvan Kantor | new course in the media landscape. ISBN-Nr.: 978-3-9812605-1-9 Parallel to the film program, space-related works It is this unique mixture of diverse cinematographic Kain Karawahn | Barbara Kasper | Sebastian Krämer | came into focus since the enhancement of the video and artistic sections which makes the Kassel Dokfest Pascal Lièvre | Avi Mograbi | Benny Nemerofsky All films on this DVD are protected by copyright. All section. In 1995 the label monitoring established so innovative and enthuses not only a regional au- Ramsay | Diane Nerwen | Nicholas Pye | Sheila Pye non-private usage such as public screening or copy- itself for the exhibition of media-installations and dience but also cinema-lovers, filmmakers, artists, | Anne-Britt Rage | RASKIN (Rotraut Pape, Andreas ing is prohibited. For public screenings the program on sculptures in order to extend the cinematographic journalists and representatives of film- and media Coerper) | Manuel Saiz | Henry Schmidt | Schroeter this DVD can be requested via the publisher. Screening framework of the festival further. institutions from all over the world. und Berger | Susanne Schulz | Gregor Schuster | DVDs with a higher image quality can be acquired after Lothar Schuster | Benjamin Seide | Alberto Signetto clarification of the rights with the respective filmma- | Shelly Silver | Mike Stubbs | Marianne Theunissen kers and artists. | Michael Toke | Melissa Totten | Katharina Wibmer | www.filmladen.de/dokfest Bruce Yonemoto | Wayne Yung 3 Program compilations with 33 selected short films between Media between space between humans most touching Anniversary-DVD www.filmladen.de/dokfest | [email protected] Running time 244 minutes | DVD9 | PAL | Region free | ISBN-Nr.: 978-3-9812605-1-9