When I think about Fassbinder, I don’t think about Germany but about Kraut Rock because Rainer Werner began for me with Tocotronic. Despair heißt auch eine Reise ins Licht*, sang Dirk Lowtzow once. Despair is also a journey into the light. Does despair thus finally lead to the light, to enlightenment? Or is the way to enlightenment, which lets us realize and in makes us desperate? All in all Lowtzow gave no answer.
ARTISTS KOMISCHE OPER
JOCHEN SCHROPP – HOST
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.
UDO KIER
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
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 ORCHESTER OF THE KOMISCHE OPER BERLIN
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.
Udo Kier – A perfect piece of art
Madonna once called him a meanman. He plays his characters without any inhibition and a lot of passion. He is completely absorbed in his roles. Udo Kier, who never visited a classic drama school and is living in Palm Springs today, can look back on a 50 years career. We honor the man who phones his dogs, when he is travellling, with this year’s Special TEDDY AWARD.
Last Week in Review
Missed the last TEDDY-news? No time to check our daily updates on our blog and social media? Don’t worry! Here’s everything you shouldn’t have missed.
Berlinale is around the corner and the TEDDY team is assembling to plan the 29th edition of the TEDDY AWARD. Last week we moved into our office and supplied ourselves with large amounts of chocolate, fruits and coffee. Ready to go!
This year, as every year, there will be tons of great artists at the TEDDY AWARD. We are really proud to announce that Ingrid Caven will join us this year. Since the late seventies, she’s one of the biggest stars of chanson, often compared to Marlene Dietrich and Edith Piaf. Fans of the German band Tocotronic should also know her name, as the band has been closing their shows with her chanson „Die großen weißen Vögel“ for years.
Before Caven became a singer, she acted in many Rainer Werner Fassbinder movies. She was life-long friends with the director, they were even married for two years. She will perform a couple of her classics in a homage to the late Fassbinder. Fassbinder is also the face of our poster this year, which was painted by Rinaldo Hopf and designed by cabine.
Besides Ingrid Caven, we’re looking forward to the Vienna-based band POP:SCH, who will perform their anti-homophobia-anthem “shut up haters”. And, of course, the great Udo Kier will join us to accept his Special TEDDY AWARD.
A familiar face will join us again this year: Jochen Schropp will host the TEDDY AWARD for the fourth time. Yay!
Opening and closing party will take place at SchwuZ again. And it will be wild :)
Who, like us, can hardly wait for the TEDDY to begin and wants to read more can check out Sebastian waking up from a food coma and Audrey reporting on homophobia in Hollywood.
All the events are now online. Our website and blog will be updated with news about the program, the lazy ones can read the next Last Week in Review with all the important news.
See you next week!
TEDDY Events 2015
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd, 2015, 10 pm
Wieland Speck and the TEDDY foundation present MonGay Special
INTRODUCTION TO THE QUEER FILMS OF THE 65th BERLINALE @ Kino International
Karl-Marx-Allee 33, 10178 Berlin
Head of the Panorama Section Wieland Speck presents the 2015 TEDDY programm.
Entrance fee: full price : 7 euro, concessions: 6,50 euro.
Ticket proceeds go to the TEDDY foundation.
>>>Facebook-event
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6th, 2 pm
BERLINALE TALK @ Berlinale Lounge
with UDO KIER and Deutschlandradio Kultur
Broadcast on February 9th, 9 am
Audi Berlinale Lounge at Marlene-Dietrich-Platz
Free entry
>>>Facebook-event
TEDDY GRAND OPENING NIGHT @ SchwuZ “London Calling”
Rollbergstraße 26, 12053 Berlin
Entrance fee: 6 euro until midnight, afterwards 8 euro
Rock: Lego & marsmaedchen
Elektronische Tanzmusik: Chance&Dark, Lucky Pierre & Ena Lind
Janus-floor: dpd & M.E.S.H
Info booth concerning trans* issues and Chelsea Manning with Free Chelsea Manning Berlin and Queer Amnesty Berlin
>>>Facebook-event
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12th, 8 to 9 pm
BERLINALE TALK @ Berlinale Lounge
“The years with Fassbinder”
UDO KIER and INGRID CAVEN
Audi Berlinale Lounge at Marlene-Dietrich-Platz
Free entry
>>> Facebook-event
9 pm: 29th TEDDY AWARD GALA @ Komische Oper Berlin
Behrenstraße 55-57, 10117 Berlin
Host: JOCHEN SCHROPP
with :
INGRID CARVEN
KATHERINE MEHRLING
AGNES ZWIERKO
POP:SCH
FELIX AND FLOW
with the ORCHESTER DER KOMISCHEN OPER BERLIN
with a tribute to Rainer Werner Fassbinder
and many more tba
Special TEDDY AWARD: UDO KIER
11 pm: TEDDY AFTER SHOW LOUNGE, CHILL & DANCE
with “L’ensemble transes continentales” and “Das blaue Wunder” feat. Magnus and Norbert
And for those who want to party all night, we organized a party shuttle bus who will bring you to the TEDDY AWARD Closing Party at the SchwuZ. Entrance is included in the Gala ticket fee.
TEDDY 2015 CLOSING PARTY @ SchwuZ “Partysane”
Rollbergstraße 26, 12053 Berlin
Entrance fee: 8 euro until midnight, afterwards 10 euro
Entrance fee includes support for the TEDDY foundation
Rotz’n’pop: Gloria Viagra & Pa$cha
Urban Sounds: Black Cracker & Friends
Discoelectro: Disco Gessner & hintergrundrauschen
Live: POP:SCH
Info booth concerning trans* issues and Chelsea Manning with Free Chelsea Manning Berlin and Queer Amnesty Berlin
>>> Facebook-event
Filmscreening in cooperation with Mobile Kino
Entrance fee: 5 Euro
SchwuZ, Rollbergstraße 26, 12053 Berlin
>>> Facebook-event
Wieland Speck and the TEDDY foundation present MonGay Special
TEDDY AWARD WINNER FILM(S) FROM THE 65th BERLINALE @ Kino International
Kino International, Karl-Marx-Allee 33, 10178 Berlin
Entrance fee: full price : 7 euro, concessions: 6,50 euro.
Ticket proceeds go to the TEDDY foundation.
>>> Facebook-event