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AN UNTIMELY FILM FOR EVERY ONE AND NO ONE, 2018

13. Forum Expanded
 – A Mechanism Capable of Changing Itself

In 1947, the avant-garde cinema pioneer Maya Deren noted that “Marxism is the only political theory that has designed a mechanism capable of changing itself - as in the concept of the withering away of the state." It is with this quotation that the media scholar Ute Holl begins a paper on the film poet’s theories and concept of cinema, which takes the form of "a sustained intervention in the social and sensory relationships of all those who participate in this ongoing form of communication." The title of this year’s Forum Expanded program was taken from this same paper, with "A Mechanism Capable of Changing Itself" referring to the specific agency possessed by cinema, which is especially well expressed in the rich range of forms to be found in documentary works.

This year, the concept of the documentary also provides a wide spectrum that encompasses the possibilities of digital cinema as well as the many attempts to reposition history, present and future in relation to each other. In a 36-hour work, Margaret Honda unfolds a digital projector’s entire range of portrayal, while an audiovisual composition of The Otolith Group (whose works are currently on display in a group exhibition at the Akademie der Künste am Hanseatenweg) stages an encounter with the militant minimalism of the avant-garde composer, pianist and vocalist Julius Eastman.

The selected works include 35 films and video works of all genres, including AN UNTIMELY FILM FOR EVERY ONE AND NO ONEby Ayreen Anastas and Rene Gabri, and 14 installations. We also look forward to a concert by the Egyptian band “The Invisible Hands”, which is the subject of a documentary by Marina Gioti and Georges Salameh that  first screened at documenta 14 in Athens.

We will be presenting an installation by the duo of female artists Bambitchell at the Canadian embassy’s Marshall McLuhan Salon. SPECIAL WORKS SCHOOL examines supervision as an aesthetic practice.

SAVVY Contemporary presents an exhibition devoted to the artist and filmmaker Jasmina Metwaly. WE ARE NOT WORRIED IN THE LEAST deals with her research and works created in Egypt between 2011 and 2016.

“Think Film No. 6 – Archival Constellations”, an international symposium about matters related to film archives and alternative archive projects, will take place on 22nd February in the dome hall of the silent green Kulturquartier in Berlin’s Wedding district.

Once again, the Prinzessinnengärten will decorate the Arsenal foyer, where b_books will be selling books. (stss) Participating artists and filmmakers: Milad Amin, Ayreen Anastas/Rene Gabri, Bambitchell, James Benning, Zach Blas, Musquiqui Chihying/Gregor Kasper, Kudzanai Chiurai, Bruce Conner, Anouk De Clercq/Tom Callemin, Heinz Emigholz, Morgan Fisher, Alex Gerbaulet, Marina Gioti/Georges Salameh, Barbara Hammer, Jan Peter Hammer, Margaret Honda, Laura Horelli, Marta Hryniuk, The Invisible Hands, Ken Jacobs, Alexander Johnston, Jane Jin Kaisen, Adam Kaplan/Gilad Baram, Chris Kennedy, Nesrine Khodr, Jen Liu, Mariam Mekiwi, Jasmina Metwaly, Ash Moniz, Bahar Noorizadeh, The Otolith Group, Didem Pekün, Andreas Reihse/Dalia Neis/Mohamad A. Gawad, Ben Rivers/Ben Russell, Michael Robinson, RoxLEE, Ghassan Salhab/Mohamed Soueid, Gabraz Sanna/Anne Santos, Kerstin Schrödinger, Maya Shurbaji, Siska, John Smith, Sanghee Song, Rania Stephan, Deborah Stratman, Jerry Tartaglia, Clarissa Thieme, Wendelien van Oldenborgh, Ala Younis. Curated by Stefanie Schulte Strathaus (Head curator), Khaled Abdulwahed, Maha Maamoun, Ulrich Ziemons. Advice: Anselm Franke. Co-curators: Antonia Alampi, Pia Chakraverti-Wuerthwein (SAVVY Contemporary), Nicole Wolf (Think Film No. 6). Opening: 14.2., 19.00.

Funded by:

  • Logo Minister of State for Culture and the Media