Tag Archives: Queens of the Qing Dynasty

TEDDY TODAY: 15.02.2022

Wow, time is flying by – tomorrow night the Berlinale’s Golden Bears are already being awarded! But before that, we have quite a number of fascinating TEDDY movies premiering for you today!

Scroll down to find out about all the films coming out today, and don’t forget to check out the re-runs as well – plenty of fascinating content! đŸ»

PREMIERES:

AK, MARK VE ÖLÜM (Love, Deutschmarks and Death)

Directed by: Cem Kaya
Germany, 2022
96′

Film still AƟk, Mark ve ÖlĂŒm, © filmfaust, Film Five

Synopsis: The German Federal Republic’s 1961 recruitment agreement with Turkey not only brought “guest workers” to Germany but also their music. Cem Kaya’s dense documentary film essay is a tutorial in Turkish-German recent history that tells a tale of assembly line jobs, homesickness and family reunification, the bazaar in the elevated railway station at Berlin’s BĂŒlowstraße, xenophobia and racism, the wistful songs of the early years and the hip-hop of the post-reunification period. These are the stories shared by musicians beginning with Metin TĂŒrköz and YĂŒksel Özkasap, to the psychedelic Derdiyoklar and the chart-topping rapper Muhabbet. Their music has evolved a long way from that of German bands and has always developed out of the Turkish community and its desires. This is the world of Radio Yilmaz, various music cassette labels, protest rocker Cem Karaca’s German exile, and wedding bands that also sing in Kurdish and Arabic to meet the demands of the market. Extensive archival research and an interest in Turkish popular culture are recurring themes in Cem Kaya’s work. With Ak, Mark ve ÖlĂŒm, he has created a rhythmic and vividly narrated cinematic encyclopaedia of Turkish music in Germany. 

SCREENING TIMES:

15.02. / 16:00 International

15.02. / 16:20 Cubix 2
[Screening for industry professionals | With accreditation only]

BRAINWASHED: SEX-CAMERA-POWER

Directed by: Nina Menkes
USA, 2022
107′

CalArts Hosts Nina Menkes – Sex and Power

Synopsis: Since 2017, #MeToo and the no-longer-covered-up abuse of countless women by Harvey Weinstein have called many things into question in the film industry. This documentary analysis of the male gaze in cinema is based on Nina Menkes’ lecture “Sex and Power: The Visual Language of Oppression”. In it, Menkes uncovers patriarchal narrative structures that lie behind supposedly classic set-ups and camera angles. Making use of feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey’s theses on the objectification and sexualisation of the female body, she shows how aesthetic decisions such as camera movement or lighting influence the perception of women on screen, and how shot design functions as an instrument and a mirror of power relations. In doing so, she determines a connection between established film language and a culture of misogyny that leads to the abuse of women beyond the screen. Her individual analyses of scenes from 120 years of film history demystify many a cult film in the independent canon – because the film language that has been shaped by the patriarchy pervades more than just Hollywood cinema. 

SCREENING TIMES:

15.02. / 12:30 Zoo Palast 1

FOGARÉU

Directed by: FlĂĄvia Neves
Brazil, France, 2022
100′

Film still Fogaréu© Bananeira Filmes

Synopsis: Fernanda returns to her uncle’s ranch in Goiás in mid-western Brazil after an absence of many years, bringing the ashes of her deceased adoptive mother back home. Her appearance and her search for the truth about her roots shake the façade of her middle- class family. For her landowner uncle, a conservative mayor of the local municipality who is campaigning for re-election, Fernanda’s investigations and accusations are rapidly becoming a threat. But she remains unyielding in her bid for truth and justice.

In her surreal, fantastical debut, FlĂĄvia Neves masterfully interweaves the search for one’s own origins with Brazil’s colonial past. At the heart of this family drama is the confrontation with antiquated traditions, exploitative relationships and with those who profit from them. FogarĂ©u depicts an inspiring attempt to break out of hardened structures as well as the hope for a new beginning. 

SCREENING TIMES:

15.02. / 14:00 Cubix 4
[Screening for industry professionals | With accreditation only]

15.02. / 22:00 Zoo Palast 1

IF FROM EVERY TONGUE IT DRIPS

Directed by: Sharlene Bamboat
Canada, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, 2021
68′

Film still If from Every Tongue It Drips, © Sharlene Bamboat

Synopsis: If from Every Tongue It Drips is a hybrid documentary film that uses the framework of quantum physics to explore the ways that personal relationships and political movements at once transcend and challenge time, space, identity, and location. The film follows the lives of a couple living in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka; Ponni writes Rekhti, a form of 19th-century, Urdu, queer poetry; the other, Sarala, is the camera operator. As their personal lives unfold on camera, the lines between rehearsal and reality, location and distance, self and other dissipate and reinforce one another. Simultaneously, through the poet and the camera operator’s daily lives, interconnections between British colonialism, Indian nationalism, and the impact of both on contemporary poetry, dance, and music in South Asia are revealed.

SCREENING TIMES:

15.02. / 20:00 Kino Arsenal 1

ALIS

Directed by: Clare Weiskopf & NicolĂĄs van Hemelryck
Colombia, Romania, Chile, 2022
84′

Film still Alis, © Casatarantula, deFilm, Pantalla Cines

Synopsis: In a home in Columbia, ten young women take a seat, one after another, and close their eyes. They are asked to picture Alis, an imaginary friend, and to bring her story to life in a creative dialogue with the filmmakers. Like the interviewees, Alis used to live on the streets of BogotĂĄ. This imaginary companion is the seed for an extraordinary documentary format, serving as a reflective and delicate point of entry to the protagonists’ own stories. Alis becomes a surface for the projection of past traumas, or the travails of companions who fell by the wayside, and also for life visions and desires for the future. The imaginary friend is a blank slate for exploring individual ideas of freedom, as well as battles that have yet to be fought. 

SCREENING TIMES:

15.02. / 17:30 HKW

LADIES ONLY

Directed by: Rebana Liz John
Germany, India, 2021
79′

Film stiill Ladies Only, © Milann Tress John

Synopsis: A small film crew ventures into the compartments of Mumbai’s local trains that are reserved for women. “What makes you angry?” is the simple question the filmmaker poses to the train’s female passengers. Acquaintances and women who are encountering each other by chance are invited to reveal their opinions and stories in a space that is public, yet protected. Their answers and observations are manifold: sometimes funny, sometimes depressing, sometimes combative, sometimes resigned, but always honest, they come together to form an increasingly complex tapestry.

SCREENING TIMES:

15.02. / 18:45 International

QUEENS OF THE QING DYNASTY

Directed by: Ashley McKenzie
Canada, 2022
122′

Film still Queens of the Qing Dynasty © Hi-Vis FilmFilm

Synopsis: Star, a suicidal teen now too old for foster care, develops a candid rapport with An, a student from Shanghai who is assigned to watch her while she is in hospital. A nightly exchange of secrets, text messages and possessions quickly expands the boundaries of their relationship, altering their inner chemistry.

SCREENING TIMES:

15.02. / 18:00 CinemaxX 7

15.02. / 18:35 Cubix 2
[Screening for industry professionals | With accreditation only]

RERUNS:

Le variabili dipendenti (The Dependent Variables)
15.02. / 12:30 Filmtheater am Friedrichshain

Aos dezasseis (At Sixteen)
15.02. / 20:30 Cubix 8

Blaues Rauschen (Blue Noise)
15.02. / 20:30 Cubix 8

Jail Bird in a Peacock Chair
15.02. / 11:00 Kino Arsenal 1

Sab changa si (All Was Good)
15.02. / 14:00 Werkstattkino@silent green

Terminal norte (North Terminal)
15.02. / 20:30 Cubix 7

West by God
15.02. / 20:30 Cubix 8

White Sands Crystal Foxes
15.02. / 19:00 Zeiss-Großplanetarium

TEDDY TODAY: 14.02.2022

It might be Monday again but that shouldn’t stop you from going for a cheeky cinema evening today 😉

We’ve got 8 exquisite premieres lined up so there’s plenty to choose from. Have a browse below and enjoy!

PREMIERES:

LAY ME BY THE SHORE

Directed by: David Findlay
Canada 2022
19′

Film still Lay Me by the Shore, © David Findlay

Synopsis: Summer days in the quiet suburb are warm and shimmering. Still, between images of parties and intimate moments with his girlfriend, trans-teenager Noah is repeatedly plagued by flashbacks that arrive out of the blue. Though all is calm around him, the sound of the river is overwhelming inside his head. Noah’s best friend died in a sporting accident. The departed’s presence is still palpable, haunting what were supposed to be care-free days. 

SCREENING TIMES:

14.02. / 21:00 HKW

BLAUES RAUSCHEN (Blue Noise)

Directed by: Simon Maria Kubiena
Germany, Austria 2022
17′

Film still Blaues Rauschen | Blue Noise, © Dennis Banemann

Synopsis: His T-shirt caked with mortar, Alex takes a thoughtful drag on his cigarette. The other apprentices are laughing, throwing punches and showing off their fighting moves. They try to draw him into their game, but his thoughts seem elsewhere – not even his girlfriend can get through to him. Alex is searching for answers and he withdraws from the expectations of those around him. He eventually finds himself, at ease among a group of complete strangers. 

SCREENING TIMES:

14.02. / 17:30 HKW

TERMINAL NORTE (North Terminal)

Directed by: Lucrecia Martel
Argentina 2021
37′

Film still Terminal norte | North Terminal, © Rei Cine SRL

Synopsis: During the 2020 lockdown, Lucrecia Martel returns to her home in Salta, Argentina’s most conservative region. Here she follows Julieta Laso who, like a muse, introduces her to a group of female artists and defiant people who exchange glances and opinions around a fire. Perfectly attuned to a body of work that constructs stories from an amalgam of people and places and, four years after the beautiful Zama, Terminal Norte marks the return to the screen of Argentina’s greatest filmmaker. The result is a gripping tribute to a community that, temporary though it may be, serves as a magnificent antidote to the pandemic. 

SCREENING TIMES:

14.02. / 14:00 Akademie der KĂŒnste

WEST BY GOD

Directed by: Scott Lazer
USA, 2022
13′

Film still West By God, © salmo 202203918_1, Aphrodite Armstrong, Kyle Riggs

Synopsis: Dale is used to everybody wanting something from him. As a drug dealer in small-town West Virginia, it kind of goes with the territory. Nelly remains unimpressed, even when he does a little business on the side during their first date. The high school student exerts fascination on Dale. He can talk to her – about dreams, regrets and the fact that maybe it’s not so cool after all when your own life has become a rap anthem. 

SCREENING TIMES:

14.02. / 17:30 HKW

AOS DEZASSEIS (At Sixteen)

Directed by: Carlos Lobo
Portugal 2022
14′

Film still Aos dezasseis At Sixteen, © Olhar de Ulisses

Synopsis: Transfixed, she follows the movements of a group of dancers rehearsing a routine. Watching two girls kiss, she longingly bites her lower lip – yet in the mirror, she studies her own reflection with disapproval. As feelings of desire vie with insecurity and dejection, the film reveals its 16-year-old protagonist’s emotions mainly through glances and facial expressions – her most explicit utterance being the one written on her forearm: TAKE ME DEMONS. 

SCREENING TIMES:

14.02. / 17:30 HKW

SAB CHANGA SI (All Was Good)

Directed by: Teresa A Braggs
India, 2022
77′

Film still Sab changa si | All Was Good, © Teresa A Braggs

Synopsis: Set in the backdrop of the nationwide 2019–2020 student protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in India—filmed in the city of Bangalore—Sab changa si is an intimate documentary on friendships, language, love, youth, resistance, and identity of class, caste, religion, and gender. In this film, the political is personal. 

SCREENING TIMES:

14.02. / 17:00 Kino Arsenal 1

TRÊS TIGRES TRISTES (Three Tidy Tigers Tied a Tie Tighter)

Directed by: Gustavo Vinagre
Brazil, 2022
86′

Film still TrĂȘs tigres tristes, © Cris Lyra

Synopsis: SĂŁo Paulo, in a dystopian future not so very far from the present. A virus is circulating, one that mainly attacks the brain and the ability to remember. A state that has forgotten a past marked by colonialism and dictatorship desperately awaits some indeterminate “Golden Phase.” Three young queer people drift through a city bled dry by the pandemic and rampant capitalism, remembering each another’s late lovers, sharing their experiences with HIV, getting makeup tips for masked faces and ultimately coming together with others forgotten by society for an antique revue in the salon of a singer named Mirta. In Gustavo Vinagre’s affable, surrealist survey of a politically imposed amnesia, a queer era has dawned in which memories can only survive because they are shared collectively and passed on through affective relationships. Those who spread out in all directions do not collide. And those entirely unconcerned with dying rich and privileged are experiencing the Golden Phase right now. In TrĂȘs tigres tristes, the margins of society glitter, forgotten by the pandemic. 

SCREENING TIMES:

14.02. / 21:30 Delphi Filmpalast

TYTÖT TYTÖT TYTÖT (Girl Picture)

Directed by: Alli Haapasalo
Finland, 2022
101′

Film still Girl Picture, © Ilkka Saastamoinen / Citizen Jane Productions

Synopsis: It’s Friday night and just like every other week, best friends Rönkkö and Mimmi are busy beating back the darkness of the Finnish winter with an irrepressible lust for life and love. With her quirky wit, Rönkkö stands out at every party and has no trouble getting the boys’ attention – yet how do you turn desire into fulfilment? When Mimmi loses her temper, you might find yourself on the wrong end of her hockey stick. But when she falls in love with the graceful figure skater Emma, everything suddenly seems bright and easy. With its episodic narrative, Alli Haapasalo’s film tells a story of friendship, and of three exhilaratingly headstrong individuals trying to wrest dreams from reality and redefining relationships and sexuality along the way. 

SCREENING TIMES:

14.02. / 20:00 Urania

RERUNS:

Bashtaalak sa’at (Shall I compare you to a summer’s day?)
14.02. / 14:35 Cubix 3 (Screening for industry professionals | With accreditation only)

Calcinculo (Swing Ride)
14.02. / 21:00 Zoo Palast 2

Nel mio nome (Into My Name)
14.02. / 09:00 Cubix 1 (Screening for industry professionals | With accreditation only)

One Big Bag
14.02. / 20:00 Werkstattkino@silent green

Viens je t’emmùne (Nobody’s Hero)
14.02. / 21:00 Intimes 1
14.02. / 21:00 Intimes 2