How do you like Berlin? What is special about the city for you?
I love Berlin, it is vibrant, has a huge history and I love those old huge buildings and the architecture. I also love going to swap meets.
The movie history associated with Berlin is most special for me, the Babelsberg Film Studios, the UFA films, the Berlin International Film Festival. And I am tremendously proud to see new blockbuster movies coming out in the USA and those then have being filmed in Babelsberg.
How would you describe the Berlinale in one sentence?
Epic and most relevant for movies.
What was your first encounter with the TEDDY AWARD?
The TEDDY AWARD is and always was for me a fist look in what queer movies would come out in a year and which ones might be suitable for our film festival and of cause which movie I might want to see personally.
In your eyes, what does the TEDDY AWARD symbolize? What does it stand for? What makes it unique?
The TEDDY AWARD is the “Oscar” for queer filmmaking. It gives queer cinema an international visibility and opportunity to see queer films from all over the world which would probably not make it into your local theater and because of getting a major award, these films are now being picked up for larger distribution and made available to a border audience. The TEDDY AWARD stands for “achievement” in queer cinema and because of that genre it is unique.
Tell us about a movie you’ve recently seen.
STILL ALICE with Julianne Moore. It is hiding home as most everybody knows someone who is affected by Alzheimer’s and this is a film with a great story, and brilliant actors. Julianne Moore already got the Golden Globe, a SAG Award and she is deserving the Academy Award for her performance!
Ena Lind has been a mainstay of the Berlin scene since 2006. As an electro DJane she exudes a creativity and energy that moves clubbers to their core and never fails to get the dance floor moving. Her feel for timing, her awareness of her audience, her selection of tunes and her sense for the theatrical transform her sets into dramatic performances, into musical journeys through the night. And her vivacious character undoubtedly adds a particular spark to her gigs.
JANUS
The first Janus – operated by two Americans, with a German local, Lotic, as resident DJ – party debuted just over a year ago with Jersey club king DJ Sliink; subsequent events have featured the likes of Venus X, Total Freedom, Jam City, Slava, Ssion, Teengirl Fantasy and more. These kinds of hyper-modern, cross-genre club pollination sets occur regularly in New York, for instance, but while most of these DJs and producers are American, Europeans do clubbing better and that’s reflected here.
Over the years, Julie Chance has been an active DJ in her hometown Dublin, London and now in her current home of Berlin, where she’s quaked the floors of Berghain, Gretchen and Festsaal Kreuzberg. Whether in a dark and dingy basement at 4 a.m. or amidst the fashion elite at a daytime tradeshow, Julie knows how to rock the house—and “house” is definitely her modus operandi, with an arsenal ranging from old Chicago classics to sleek, cutting-edge tech-house, always developing her style by digging through the crates of history as well as sniffing out the latest tracks. Aside from DJing, Julie is a founding member of the electro/shoegaze band Kool Thing and an art photographer.
LEGO
Born in Berlin, Lego has spinned his records already for two years now at queer indie-electro parties like BANG! in Oberhausen or HELKI in Potsdam. Furthermore, he became a resident DJ at the SchwuZ party LONDON CALLING, where he loves to play songs of Björk, The Knife or David Bowie. Next to his DJ nightlife, Lego studies graphic design in Bremen, Germany.
Starting with indie and rock music, not long ago Lucky Pierre explored for himself the power of electronic music. Since 2013, he shares his love for tech and deep house with Berlin’s party crowd. Normally playing mostly the late after hours at SchwuZ, Lucky has got a lot planned for 2015.
MARSMAEDCHEN
Marsmaedchen is a DJane, singer and at home at many parties in Berlin, Hamburg and in the Ruhrpott area of Germany. Anything is possible when she puts on her “Rockqueerhiphopurbanbalkanbeatzalltimefavsriotgrrrrlpunkelectropopswing” fusions as the main objective of this “Girl from Mars” is to make people dance – and she shows that every year in front of SO36 (in the Kreuzberg area of Berlin) at the MyFest stage. However, Marsmaedchen also uses her guitar and laptop to make music, which she describes as “musical anarchy”: somewhere between Blues, HipHop, Pop and Electro.
Djs SchwuZ 13.02.2015
BLACK CRACKER & FRIENDS
Stoic as fuck, with a baby face and a set of blue-collar shoulders, Ellison Renee Glenn aka Black Cracker rocks a swag aesthetic that lies somewhere between Dipset and Blackbox. Currently living between Berlin and Lausanne, but based professionally out of NYC, he works as a producer/MC/writer and has collaborated with the likes of Cocorosie, Creep, Bunny Rabbit and Grand Pianoramax, among others.
DISCO GESSNER
The DJ-gene runs in the family: with inheriting the vinyl collection of both his mum and his brother, Disco Gessner‘s career pass was kind of predestined. Mixing original disco-tracks with modern housebeats, he quickly gained international fame. Today he’s one of the germany’s most experienced DJ’s.
HINTERGRUNDRAUSCHEN
Born and raised in the former East Berlin, Hintergrundrauschen is very much influenced by the technoid Berlin sound of the early 1990s. He belongs to the „young guard“ of the new Berlin DJ talent. His sets sparkle with emotionally charged energy, with musical roots reaching from Kraftwerk to Donna Summer to Carl Craig. Besides Cologne he also enjoyed gigs all over Europe as well as the gay club scene in Berlin and his monthly residency in Tresor Club.
Berlin’s one and only “Empire State Building” of drag entertainment… Tall, nasty, professional… Every 2nd Friday of the month Gloria Viagra runs her own party PARTYSANE! at SchwuZ club! Furthermore, she does shows and sings live with her own band “SqueezeBOX”! She won awards as “2nd Best National DJ 2009” and “Best Drag Queen 2010”, as well as she performed at “The Voice of Germany” in 2012! A showgirrrrrrl, which whirls all around the globe and fights for human rights with political actions.
PA$CHA
Known as a party organizer, Pa$cha is mixing R’n’B and hip hop music as a DJ. Every month, he spins his records at ”Partysane“ and, in addition, holds his regular party ”Peaches & Cream“ in different venues.
How do you like Berlin? What is special about the city for you?
At least once a year I’m in Berlin. I can say that the reasons for my visits are sad and happy at the same time, because the majority of my friends left Serbia and now live in Berlin, and that’s sad, but at the same time I’m happy that I have the reasons to visit Berlin so frequently. Berlin is the city that I love very much, because you can be whatever you want without fear of violence.
How would you describe the Berlinale in one sentence?
Berlinale is the most important film festival in Europe, a big film fair were you see the most important films of the year. Also, Berlinale is a resource center for many smaller festivals, were you can find what you need, from newest queer films to distributors contacts.
What was your first encounter with the TEDDY AWARD?
The Serbian film “Marble Ass” with Vjeran Miladinovic Merlinka in the main role received the TEDDY AWARD in 1995. Merlinka was killed in 2003, and we named our festival after her in 2009. It was so important that such film received the TEDDY AWARD.
In your eyes, what does the TEDDY AWARD symbolize? What does it stand for? What makes it unique?
TEDDY AWARD is a part of film history, but also part of the LGBT movement and queer art history. TEDDY acknowledges many important low budget queer films from all over the world and gave a boost to many filmmakers to create queer films. In many cases awards are recognition of a brilliant film, but in TEDDY’s case it’s also a contribution to better fate of that film. We still live in a homophobic world where we must sometimes hide the queer element of the film if we want successes. TEDDY is contributing to that success without hiding the queer element. Und das ist auch gut so.
Jochen Schropp is the host of numerous German TV-Shows. In 2011 he was awarded the Bavarian TV Prize for his presentation. In 2010, 2011 and 2014 he was nominated for the German TV Prize in the category Best Entertainer. He is also a successful actor: His breakout role was in the series Sternenfänger alongside Nora Tschirner. Among many other appearances on television, he played the pathologist in the crime series Polizeiruf 110. For his role in Zwei Engel für Amor he was nominated for the Grimme Prize. Jochen Schropp hosts many charity-events like the Kölner Aids-Gala and the Rosenball in Vienna. He is hosting the TEDDY AWARD Gala since 2012.
The SPECIAL TEDDY AWARD for Artistic Life Achievement 2015 will be given to the actor Udo Kier. With Rainer Werner Fassbinder, he got to know the cinema and became the international energy which emerged from the Fassbinder-Clan. For five decades he has been oscillating between trash, pop, art house and two continents. He worked together with Warhol, von Trier, Schlingensief and Madonna. He participated in Blockbusters and high-grade trash and set standards for non-stereotypical male characters.
INGRID CAVEN
Ingrid Caven embodies many roles: She is a singer, the hero of a novel, an actress. And she was one of the closest confidents of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, whom she was married to for two years. Fassbinder called their relationship a “Wahlverwandtschaft”. As a student Ingrid Caven met the director in Munich and joined his antiteater-group. She acted in more than 40 Fassbinder-productions. In the late Seventies, she came to fame as a chanson singer in Paris, with compositions by Peer Raben. Sophisticated changes of voice, a black Yves Saint Laurent velvet robe and her passionate performance made her an icon of chanson. In 2000 the novel Ingrid Caven by Cavens life-partner Jean-Jacques Schuhl was published. The novel, which describes the life of Caven, was awarded with the Prix Goncourt and turned Ingrid Caven into a true cult figure.
KATHARINE MEHRLING
Fotot @ Jim Rakete
Whether as Evita Peron, Edith Piaf or Fanny Brice, Katharine Mehrling shines in every role. Before she gave her stage debut at the Londoner West End in a production of Hair, she studied acting and musical theatre in London and New York. She played the leads in Some Like It Hot, Die Dreigroschenoper and Les Miserables. Mehrling performed Sally Bowles more than 250-times in the Cabaret production at the Bar jeder Vernunft in Berlin. French chanson is her great love and for her first solo-show she followed the tracks of Edith Piaf in Paris. Katharine Mehrling is internationally known for her great voice and her touching acting. She won the Prize of the Deutsche Bühnenverein, the Lale-Andersen-Prize and was awarded the theater prize Goldener Vorhang twice.
AGNES ZWIERKO
The mezzo-soprano Agnes Zwierko was born in Warsaw and initially studied computer engineering and electronics before she dedicated herself to opera singing at the Chopin University of Music. She sang in all the big opera houses of Poland as well as in international houses such as the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, La Scala in Milan or the Royal Opera House in London. The repertoire of Agnes Zwierko is big and versatile, the Amneris in Aida, Mrs. Quickly in Falstaff and the Eboli in Don Carlo are just a small selection of her roles. This season Agnes Zwierko is a guest soloist at the Komische Oper Berlin, where she plays the Tangolita in the iconic operetta Ball im Savoy.
The two soloists Katharine Mehrling and Agnes Zwierko will be accompanied by the house orchestra at the Komische Oper. In a segment from Barrie Kosky’s rendition of Jacques Offenbach’s La belle Hélène (The Beautiful Helen), ensemble dancers will demonstrate what overwhelming star power is gathered in the Komische Oper’s ensemble, aside from great voices. Peter Christian Feigel conducts, Otto Pichler choreographed.
POP:SCH
Whether it’s a hair fetish, the romance between two police officers or the general obsession with beauty, POP:SCH are singing about it. The foursome from Vienna produces Electro-Pop with queer-feminist contents. They mix electronic music of the 80s with hymnic sing-along-pop and intelligent lyrics. Their music is catchy without being simple, their lyrics aggressive without being offensive. POP:SCH describe themselves as a mixture of Kim Wilde and Peaches. Their first album TOP OF THE POP:SCH came out in 2011. Their new single shut up haters is an anthem against homophobia, directed to all the “small-minded hypocrites” out there.
FELIX AND FLOW
Straight from the menagerie of the Cirque de Demain in Paris, the figure cycling duo Felix and Flow hits the stage at the Komische Oper Berlin with fine cycling artistry of the superior sort, featuring distinctive elements unparalleled in the international Varieté scene. The brothers Felix and Florian were also successful as competitive sportsmen: they are double vice world champions and former world record holders in the discipline of artistic cycling. This unique act was forged in collaboration with the BASE Berlin talent works, which has been responsible for a number of artistic highlights seen onstage at the TEDDY AWARDS in recent years.
L’ENSEMBLE TRANSES CONTINENTALES
The TEDDY AFTER SHOW LOUNGE showcases the newly founded L’ensemble transes continentales, who will take us through an evening of our dreams to the tune of music from five continents. Trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, vibraphone and piano are just some of the instruments the ensemble will play in order to make us yearn, dance and laugh.
DAS BLAUE WUNDER FEAT MAGNUS UND NORBERT
The DJ Duo Das blaue Wunder feat. Magnus und Norbert will play at the TEDDY AFTER SHOW LOUNGE. They will spin decades of collected vinyl delicacies in a musical selection one could almost call eclecticist. Magnus and Norbert are resident DJs at the Kreuzberg institutions Südblock and Möbel Olfe.
WERNER WITTPOTH
The barrel organs of this passionate organ grinder hold up to 160 pipes and 48 pitches. With his ambitious and varied repertoire Wittpoth can be found since more than 30 years defying the weather between the domes of Cologne and Aachen. Occasionally he also plays at the Berliner Ensemble, the Ballad of Mack the Knife or Brecht’s Canon Song, accompanied by Nina Hagen.
