Our body is a wondrous construct: at times as fragile as porcelain, yet also, in parts, replaceable and repairable, akin to a machine. It can be friend or foe, an open book in which our story can be read. This program explores our relationship with the body: from belief in it and critical scrutiny of it, to the very struggle against it. It is a stage for systemic upheavals, transience, and choreographies; it is admired, scrutinised, analysed, and presented. (Linn Löffler)
While researching a film about the political upheavals in Georgia during the Perestroika era, the director is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. The radical treatment that follows, known as ”graft-versus-host“, represents his only chance of survival. In this speculative documentary essay, he draws a parallel between his own course of treatment and the introduction of a new economic system in the USSR, a shift that ultimately led to the implosion of the existing order and paved the way for the free-market economy. It was a radical act, the side effects of which are still felt in the region today.
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Nominated:
Goldener Key
- Director: Giorgi Gago Gagoshidze
Wolfgang is the filmmaker’s muse and friend. She creates a full-body scan of him for a new art project – originally intending to use the resulting sculpture to explore the discrepancy between the representation of young female bodies and old male bodies. However, while the scan is being created, he speaks about his advanced cancer. This gives the project a new direction as she recognises the significance of the scan as a captured moment in time. In interviews, Wolfgang discusses his relationship with his body, what will remain of him, and how he learned to love and accept it.… >>>
Premiere:
Europe Premiere
Nominated:
Goldener Key
A soul awaits reincarnation into a new body, reflecting on its past life as a nun – a life that unfolded quite differently than expected. Instead of finding spiritual fulfillment, she was employed by the Vatican as a "computer" to map the night sky. Disillusioned by that bleak existence, she now considers becoming a programmer in her next life.… >>>
Seven young women dance in front of their smartphones; alone in their rooms, they perform their TikTok moves and dance themselves into a trance. Meanwhile, we hear them reflect on feelings, fears, and gestures – messages and slogans that occupied their minds during their youth. They are connected through dance – together, it forms a choreography – yet they remain entirely on their own. A performance about growing up with social media and the search for self and connection.
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Premiere:
German Premiere
- Director: Élie Grappe, Anna-Marija Adomaitytė
An elderly man poses nude in various spots around his apartment. A charming, brief portrait of Bernd, who presents himself with dignity and composure within the confines of his own home.… >>>
