wir laden euch herzlich ein zum dritten screening unserer reihe!

FRAUEN UND FEMINISMUS UND FILM UND DU

gegen einen gender-mainstreaming begriff, der geschichtsvergessen fragestellungen feministischer positionen zu einem einzigen und quasi obsolet gewordenen feminismus erklärt, wendet sich now wow entlang einer geschichte des (post)feminismus, der nicht aufhört die frage nach dem (un)möglichen ort der frau zu stellen, eben diesen fragestellungen noch einmal zu. die absurdität der formel „frauen und film“ gilt hier als ausgangspunkt.

wohl unvermeidlich hat die aufweichung disziplinärer grenzen zu einer vernachlässigung feministischer fragen geführt.die frage nach der verfasstheit des bildes, auch in ihren materiellen und medialen bedingtheiten, ist eine der ersten, die die gender studies sich gestellt haben.

frauen als produzentinnen, frauen als subjekte und objekte der repräsentation bilden die ankerpunkte der auswahl.

arbeiten zu bild und raum, die intensivierte auseinandersetzung mit materialität und form machen die allgegenwärtigkeit der geschlechterdifferenz deutlich – und die rede von in oder out überflüssig.

wie bisher kommt einer der gezeigten filme im kino in der mensa aus dem kunst-, der andere aus dem mainstreambereich, um die fragen von produktion, repräsentation und rezeption, sowie der jeweiligen ästhetischen codierungen im wechsel der kontexte genauer fassen zu können… come!

 

Emily Wardill, Sick Serena and Dregs and Wreck and Wreck, UK 2007

A continuous screening of a new short film by the British artist Emily Wardill,Sick Serena and Dregs and Wreck and Wreck (2007). This film, projected on 16mm, combines images of English stained glass windows with footage of narratives staged by the artist. These stories of love, faith and betrayal proceed through a series of vignettes, staged and lit to echo the imagery of the stained glass, but also calling to mind the emotions and artifice of cinematic melodrama.

Like much of Wardill’s work, Sick Serena… was inspired in part by theoretical accounts of the operation of visual culture within history, from John Ruskin, who is quoted in the film, to Jacques Ranciére. One of the artist’s interests is the use of paradigms in contemporary political rhetoric, a strategy which is here traced back to the use of stained glass as a tool of official communication within a largely illiterate medieval society. Another of her interests is the way in which filmmakers such as Fassbinder used melodrama as a Trojan horse, as a means to smuggle political critique into popular entertainment.

However, while Wardill’s practice may contain an element of analysis, it is also highly elliptical. Sick Serena… deliberately resists any settled reading, mixing medieval iconography and modern references, and undercutting its ritualised story with faltering delivery and slapstick comedy (the buns on one of the women’s medieval headdresses are made from just that – buns). Wardill’s films deconstruct their own visual languages, in a way that is inspired by an attempt to empower the viewer, but which also emphasises the irreducible strangeness of images.

Emily Wardill’s Sick Serena and Dregs and Wreck and Wreck is a Film London Artists‘ Moving Image Network and Picture This co-production, produced as part of a Bristol Mean Time Residency, supported by The Elephant Trust out of the George Melhuish Bequest and distributed by LUX.

http://www.ica.org.uk/Emily%20Wardill+15367.twl 2011-06-15

 

 

Todd Haynes, Mildred Pierce, USA 2011

Glendale, California, 1931: Mildred Pierce, a young mother with a talent for baking, is left a „grass widow“ after throwing her husband, Bert, out of the house. Forced to hunt for work to support herself and her two young daughters, 11-year-old Veda and seven-year-old Ray, Mildred visits an employment agency, only to encounter job opportunities she feels are beneath her. Amidst her job search, she receives dating advice from her friend and neighbor, Lucy Gessler, and begins an unexpected affair with an ex-business partner of her husbandʼs, Wally Burgan. When Mildred receives a call from the agency regarding an opening as a housekeeper to a wealthy socialite, she reluctantly agrees to meet with her. After cutting the acerbic interview short, Mildred seeks refuge at a local diner, Cristoforʼs Café, where fate, and a waitress named Ida, will play a role in shaping her future. Written by HBO Publicity.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1492030/ 2011-06-15

 

 

 

Michael Curtiz, Mildred Pierce, USA 1945

Mildred Pierce dotes on her daughters while husband Bert looks to Maggie Binderhof for affection. They soon divorce, leaving Mildred to raise the girls on her own. Elder daughter Veda goads her mother about their lack of money and in response Mildred proposes opening a small restaurant. Realtor Wally Fay advises her while making numerous rebuffed passes and introduces her to Monte Baragon whose property becomes the first of a chain of restaurants. Mildred has an affair with Monte. Meanwhile, money-hungry Veda pretends to be pregnant by wealthy Ted Forrester in order to bilk his family of $10,000. Mildred tears up the check, is slapped by Veda, and orders her daughter to leave. After time away, Mildred returns to find Veda singing in a cheap club. Veda will return only if Mildred promises luxury, so Mildred agrees to marry Monte in exchange for a third of her businesses. It soon becomes clear that something is going on between Veda and Monte…

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037913/ 2011-06-15