Portrait

“Limited Possibilities Create Freedom” –
The Animation Filmmaker Sonja Rohleder

21. September 2023

Columbus gazes happily from the wings of the dove that carries him over and through the world. Visualised by a papercut, a profile that seems to consist only of a nose and a single eye, he appears as an anti-version of the explorer – mischievous, down-to-earth, completely without ambitions of wanting to claim ownership. It’s an unusual protagonist Sonja Rohleder has animated here in co-direction with Veronika Samartseva for Keimzeit’s song Kolumbus, and yet, it’s prototypical of Rohleder’s animation style and production process. Read More

Portrait

The X Factor, Birgit Hein – writing, filmmaking, and curating in the 1970s

24. August 2023

Birgit Hein was among the most important figures of avant-garde film culture in Germany and Europe. Along with her ex-husband and collaborator Wilhelm Hein, she led film into radical and uncharted territories, concerning herself unreservedly with the development, criticism and dissemination of avant-garde film.
She passed away in February 2023 at the age of 80, leaving behind a trail of pioneering accomplishments, singular in their scope and significance. Read More

Talks and Topics

Interview with Anna Roller

16. June 2023

Anna Roller is a director and writer from Munich, she already experimented with the camera as a child and teenager. Since 2014 she studied at the University of Television and Film.

With Borjana Gaković Anna Roller talks about her short films PAN (2017) and GÖR (2021), which successfully screened at festivals worldwide and won awards. Read More

Talks and Topics

Interview with Betina Kuntzsch

26. April 2023

As an artist, Betina Kuntzsch has developed the genre of video drawing, often combining hand-drawn animations with historical film, photo and archive material to create animated, documentary short films. Betina Kuntzsch talks with Borjana Gaković about her short film HALMASPIEL (Chinese Checkers, 2017) – which tells the story of her mother. Read More

Portrait

Volker Schlecht: Seeking the Right Image

19. April 2023

An image that fits to a T – what is that exactly? And what precedes it – perhaps another image, one before the inner eye, or merely just a vague thematic hunch? These are questions that arise quickly when you explore and engage yourself with Volker Schlecht, who pivots back and forth between the moving and the non-moving image. Read More

Portrait

Nikita Diakur
An Avatar to Combat Fakes

20. December 2022

The avatar trembles, barely able to stay up on its legs, then it falls over, its arms flailing. “Attempting a backflip is not safe. You can break your neck, or land on your head, or land badly on your wrists. None of that is nice, so my avatar does the trick,” an emotionless voice explains. The voice is that of animation director Nikita Diakur, distorted using voice cloning software. Yet its dry humour does manage to penetrate even through the manipulative software coils. Read More