Selfportraits

»A Short Affair (and) Going Crazy«, »Why?«, »Tsumi« or »Heads« - these film titles do not reveal much of the content, but all films shown here clearly have the ME at their center. And as an early working titel »Self-written, self-directed and self-acted self-portraits« was dropped for its unease in being spelled out loud, it nevertheless formed the general theme these films were chosen for. O.K., the music, the editing and certainly supporting roles can be filled by others than this ME of the filmmaker, but the most important jobs in a film: idea, script, camera and lead should, like in any diary or selfportrait, be performed by the one and only ME.
For as long as mankind exists artists created their works after the likeness of man - also their gods. But only with the early renaissance did the I of the painter or the sculpturor become of the importance, that we apply to it so naturally today – and the selfportrait soon became of significant importance to our cultural identity.

The fact, that man is preoccupied with himself, is his nature - the way artists view and depict themselves always also mirrors their period and also the means of expression, methods and techniques, that are available to them and their time. Mirrors or polished, reflecting surfaces by the way, were a prerequisite for artists to draw or paint themselves. Something which in itself is not always that simple. To place oneself in an altar-piece or a historical painting with the help of not only sides reversing mirrors requires a lot of practice and proficiency, but even so, the end results were not always completely without a certain amount of unintended humour.

A huge step in a new direction was the invention of photography and with it that of the self-timer! Resulting in a sheer flood of self-portraits it soon became clear, that the simplicity afforded by the new technology also brought new difficulties along with it: Now it became necessary to think of details, such as composition, lighting, make-up and more even before you begin. All this increases tenfold with film, where almost nothing is possible without again more hardware to think about.
How?

The short films presented here demonstrate this in various ways. Common to all is the fact, that they attempt to lift the techniques of the self-portrait onto a higher artistic level to become true works of art, on top of such general motives for self-expression as self-love, exhibitionism or self-therapy.



ME, MYSELF & I 1

Monday, June 10th 2002, 8.00 pm, Metropolis
Wednesday, June 12th 2002, 10.30 pm, Zeise 2

1. Die Statik der Eselsbrücken/The Static of Roundabout Association
Michael Brynntrup, Germany 1990, 21'00 Min., 16 mm, b/w, OV, Experimentalfilm
2. Vitalx: Kissing Project
Yoshie Suzuki, USA, 1999, 8'00 Min., Mini DV NTSC, color, OV, Dolby Stereo, experimental Documentary
3. I must be beautiful too
Hester Scheurwater, Netherlands 2000, 3'30 Min., Betacam SP, color, without dialogue, Experimentalfilm
4. Hautnah
Thorsten Fleisch, Germany 2002, 7'30 Min., 16 mm, color, without dialogue, Experimentalfilm
5. Contemporary Artist
Ximena Cuevas, Mexico 1999, 5'00 Min., VHS NTSC, b/w, engl. OV, Mono, Documentary
6. Take me Home
Matt Hulse, England 1997, 6'30 Min., 16 mm, b/w, without dialogue, Experimentalfilm
7. Maria Lassnig Kantate/The Ballad of Maria Lassnig
Maria Hubert, Austria 1992, 7'30 Min., 35 mm, color, OV, Animation
8. Tsumi/The Mis-Step
Pascal Baes, Belgium 1998, 12'00 Min., U-matic LB PAL, color, without dialogue, experimental Documentary
9. A Short Affair (and) Going Crazy
Anne Charlotte Robertson, USA 1996, 24'00 Min., VHS, color, OV, Documentary
10. Tag ein Tag aus/Day in, Day out
Ulrich Sappok, Germany, 4'00 Min., Super 8, b/w, OV, Documentary


ME, MYSELF & I 2

Tuesday, June 11th 2002, 5.30 pm, Metropolis
Friday, June 14th 2002, 10.30 pm, Lichtmess

1. Wie ich ein Höhlenmaler wurde/How I became a CAve-Painter
Jan Peters, Germany 2001, 20'00 Min., 16 mm, color, OV m. engl. subtitles, Experimentalfilm
2. L’outil n‘est pas toujours un Marteau/The Tool isn't always a Hammer
Sylvie Lalibertè, Canada 1999, 9'40 Min., Betacam SP, color, französische OV m. engl. subtitles, Dolby Stereo, Experimentalfilm
3. Heads
Andrew Barranca, USA 2000, 9'30 Min., Super 8, b/w, without dialogue, Stereo, VHS NTSC, Experimentalfilm
4. Helgoland
Karin Westerlund, Denmark 2000, 12'00 Min., 35 mm, color, without dialogue, Dolby SR, Documentary
5. Mit mir/With Me
Kerstin Cmelka, Germany/Austria 2000, 2'50 Min., 16 mm, color, without dialogue, Experimentalfilm
6. Why?
Carol Halstead, Canada 1995, 12'30 Min., 16 mm, color, engl. OV, experimental Animation
7. WaWaWa.Barcelon
Laurent Vicente, France 2001, 3'20 Min., VHS, color, french OV w. engl. subtitles, Mono, Experimentalfilm
8. Sakotsu-No-Shita-No/Lover below my Collar Bone
Ryôko Aramaki, Japan 1999, 22'00 Min., 16 mm, color, OV, Documentary
9. Selfportrait Post Mortem
Louise Bourque, Canada 2002, 2'40 Min., 35 mm, color, Experimentalfilm


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