Cinema Can Do Rising Stars, Falling Stars: Die Büchse der Pandora

“Shortly after she moved to Berlin from Hollywood in 2006, Vaginal Davis began rummaging in the Arsenal archives. She could feel that it was a suitable place to look for early traces of feminism and queerness. The result was Rising Stars, Falling Stars – a monthly series with experimental rarities, long forgotten films and well-known classics of early cinema that she viewed from her own unique perspective. Each screening was accompanied by live music and introduced by Ms. Davis.”(Marc Siegel) Like a fixed star in the monthly sky, the program “Vaginal Davis Presents Rising Stars, Falling Stars” shone for over 10 years on the screen of the small cinema auditorium. Once a year, the queer art punk legend, performance artist, painter and writer  Vaginal Davis used to dedicate the program to actress Louise Brooks and presented the first film she shot with G. W. Pabst: DIE BÜCHSE DER PANDORA. In it, Brooks plays the seductive Lulu, who casts her spell on everyone. Her husband dies on their wedding night and suspicion falls on her. (stss)