Partners: Centrum Cinema in Znaki Czasu CCA in Torun and Kino.Lab in Ujazdowski Castle CCA in Warsaw

Curator of the film review: Jolanta Woszczenko (Laznia CCA)

 

Christoph Schlingensief was a German theatre, opera and radio director, a talk shows host, performer but most of all a film director. Schlingensief was a total artist, a ruthless provocateur who in a polemic way explored issues connected with politics and exclusions stigmatizing people from social margins. But it was the way in which he made his movies connecting different methods, forms, and movies genres associated with ethics of trash cinema, science fiction, porn, and horror that provoked recipients’ reflection on issues he presented. In Germany Schlingensief was a star of such rank as pop music idols, well-known politicians and mainstream actors. The culmination of his artistic activities was the Golden Lion Prize for the best national pavilion on Biennale in Venice which he was awarded post mortem in 2011. Artist planned to transform the pavilion for German Wellness and  Prophylaxis Centre with sauna, exotic plants and mud-made architecture. The Centre was meant to be built by African workers from Burkina Faso, a place where the artist planned to build the opera house. Rewarded project “Church of Fear” was realized in its changed form by an exhibition curator Susann Gaensheimer and Schlingensief’s partner Aino Laberenz. Artist died of lung cancer 10 months before the opening.

Schlingensief’s movies haven’t been yet presented in Poland, so it will be the first opportunity for Polish audience to face artist’s creations, starting with “Germany-trilogy”, thanks to which he came to prominence. The first part “ 100 years Adolf Hitler” is about last moments of the dictator of Nazi Germany in Schlingensief’s interpretation. The second, the most recognized part is “The German Chainsaw Massacre”. It tells a story about a slaughtering of East-German emigrants that travels in western part of Germany after the fall of Berlin wall. The last part is “Terror 2000” with a Polish motif. In his trilogy Schlingensief discusses very difficult, not only for German people, issues like problems of reunion, neo-Nazis organizations’ popularity as well as the help for people seeking political asylum. The whole set is soaked with trash aesthetics, chaos, history and absurdity as well as perverse humour. In 2003 German anarchists tried to destroy a copy of “Terror 2000” using acid.

Apart from the trilogy there will be a chance to see an apocalyptic vision of the end of the world with Tilda Swinton and Udo Kierem „Egomania”

Viewers will also have an opportunity to meet Alex Jovanovic, who was a co-worker of Christoph Schlingensief.
 

AlexJovanovic worksas freelance production assistant and translator in Berlin. At the Filmgalerie 451 he co-supervision of the Christoph Schlingensief film archive .Studiesof English & American literature in Scotland and Denmark. 2009-2010 personal assistant to Christoph Schlingensief. 2010-2011working in different functions for the Office Christoph Schlingensief, theFestspielhaus Afrika gGmbH (Christoph Schlingensief's Opera Village Project)and the Filmgalerie 451. 2011 Co-organisation and co-supervision of the first complete retrospective ofChristoph Schlingensief's filmic works in Berlin.

 

 

Films with Polish subtitles.

 

ATTENTION! Only for adult audience!

 

Details of review in each city and more movie info:

Goethe-Institut: www.goethe.de/warszawa

Znaki Czasu CCA in Torun: www.kino-centrum.pl

Ujazdowski Castle CCA in Warsaw: csw.art.pl i kinolab.art.pl

Presentation dates:

21-24.02.2012 Laznia CCA in Gdansk
24-26.02.2012 Znaki Czasu CCA in Torun
28.02-03.03.2012 Kino.Lab in Ujazdowski Castle CCA in Warsaw