f i l m fo r u m
los angeles

fall 2005 screenings
___________________________

The Egyptian Theater
6712 Hollywood Blvd.

Perfect City Telepathy
A program of short films organized by Isabell Spengler

This program of new short films by women filmmakers from Berlin and Los Angeles focuses on a central question: "What kind of influence does the design of an environment have on the psyche and identity of their inhabitants?"

Exploring this question in the individual styles of the filmmakers, fashion- and costume- design, mirrors, songs, monologues, time-reversal and image alterations are used to reveal the extraordinary in the ordinary. The protagonists of the films move through and reflect their environments. They are living fictional aspects of reality and communicating them in a non-verbal, seemingly telepathic way.

The program includes work by Victoria Fu, Judith Hopf, Alice Könitz, Karin Pesch, Corinna Schnitt and Isabell Spengler, as well as collaborations between some of these filmmakers.

All filmmakers except for Victoria Fu will be present at the screening, most on visit from Germany.

Films
Light Communication, by Alice Könitz (2004, 5 min., DV, color)
Four people dressed in 20th century garments and geometric headdresses, partially made from reflective materials are filmed while standing in a lake reflecting light rays onto another with mirrors.

Schloss Solitude, by Corinna Schnitt (2002, 10 min., 16 mm, color)
A special singing duet in the tradition of opera music is performed in a baroque castle.  A woman in a baroque period dress is singing "I am someone special" while looking at herself in a mirror. Suddenly there is the singing answer of a chorus of policemen .

The Uninvited, by Judith Hopf and Katrin Pesch (2005, 15 min., DV, color, 2005) World Premiere!
A family starts their day. Those workers, who support the social "Neue-Mitte" (new center) of Berlin, persue their working day. But strangely, some ghostly appearances can’t be separated from the mundane environment - they rather show themselves exactly in its center.

Permanent Residents, by Isabell Spengler (2005, 9:30 min., 16 mm, color) - Los Angeles premiere!
Composition of everyday household activies in the public urban space of Los Angeles performed by five protagonists in extreme sculptural costumes.

Living a beautiful life, by Corinna Schnitt (2003, 13 min., DV, color)
"Imagine a life you always dreamed of as a child? A perfect life. In a tasteful villa high above Los Angeles, a woman and a man, both good-looking,  report alternately to the camera that they own all the things about them, and that this is what others can only dream of. (...) And if in the meantime you think that everything will explode at the end, like in Antonioni's Zabriskie Point, you're wrong." - Kay von Keitz

Produced in Los Angeles with the support of Villa Aurora / Harriet Selling; 1st prize, German Competition at International Filmfestival Oberhausen, April 2004

Convergence (Part 1), by Victoria Fu (2004, 4.30 min., 16mm to DVD,  color)
A woman in a beach house encounters her own birthday celebration while time runs backwards for her in opposition to her surroundings. Time is a matter of relative perspective, determining the signficance in the narrative whose possibilities of meaning read like a palindrome.

Hey Produktion, by Judith Hopf (2002, 7 min., Betacam SP, color, 2002)
A female protagonist is looking for contemplation in a park. While the everyday conditions around her begin to shift she meets her alter ego, which confronts her with a completely new role regarding her model of subjectivity.

Transformation in the Land of Enchantment, by ADFA (Alice Könitz, Corinna Schnitt, Isabell Spengler, 2003, 5 min., Super8 on DVD, color)
On vacation in Texas three women find themselves mysteriously transformed. After crossing the Rio Grande, they make contact with the local cowboys.

The Natural Life of Mermaids, by HMI (Alice Könitz, Nancy deHoll, Jennifer Sindon, Isabell Spengler) (2004, 10 min., Super8 on DVD)
Biological educational movie about the life and death of the mermaids at Lake Havasu, Arizona, USA, with exceptional amateur footage and eye witnesses accounts of this rarely seen mythical species and their struggle with motor boats.

Total program running time: 79 min.

The Filmmakers:

Corinna Schnitt, born in Duisburg Germany, studied art and film at the University of Visual Communications in Offenbach and at the Art-Academy in Düsseldorf. She resided in Los Angeles as a recipient of a Villa Auroa stipend in 2003 and currently teaches video art at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. Her filmography includes "Between four and six" (1997), "Out of your clothes" (1999) and "Living a Beautiful Life" (2003).

Katrin Pesch received an MFA from Weissensee College of Art, Berlin in 1999. In 2000 she participated in the Whitney Independent Study Program in New York. In 2004/5 she was Visiting Artist at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Recent projects, exhibitions and collaborations included "Now and Ten Years Ago", Kunstwerke e.V. Berlin (2004); “Pamphlet for a Ghost Film”, Havana Biennial, Pabellon Cuba, Havana (2003); “Talk for 2 Ghost”, Symposioum for Public Affairs, Museum for Modern Art, Vienna (2003), New Wight Biennial, UCLA, Los Angeles (2001)

Alice Könitz studied art at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf Germany and at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia (MFA 1999). She lives in Los Angeles.  Recent solo shows included "Centric 66", University Art Museum, California State University Long Beach curated by Mary-Kay Lombino (2004), "Owl Society Part II", Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA (2004) and "Pan American Nightclub Sculptures", boom editions, Chicago, IL (2004)

Victoria Fu studied at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia and as exchange student at the Universität der Künste Berlin. She recently exhibited her film and video installations at “The Dark Side of the Sun” at the 2004 UCLA Wight Biennial, the Silverlake Film Festival in Los Angeles, KonstFilmInternational at Kulturhuset Valfisken in Sweden, Kunstraum Innsbruck in Austria, (dis)junction at UC Riverside, Brown University and REDCAT at Walt Disney Hall. She is currently based in Los Angeles and will be attending the Whitney Independent Study Program in the Fall of 2005.

Isabell Spengler, born in Berlin Germany, studied experimental film at the Universität der Künste in Berlin and at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia (MFA 2001). She lived in Los Angeles from 1999 until 2004  and currently teaches film at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. Her filmography includes "Psychic Tequila Tarot" (1998), Mirjam (2000) and “Permanent Residents” (2005). In California, her work has recently been shown at Cirrus gallery (Los Angeles), Mario’s furniture (Los Angeles) and Cintax (dis)junction at UC Riverside. Judith Hopf, born in Karlsruhe (Germany), studied art at the Hochschule für Kunst in Bremen and at the Universität der Künste Berlin (Prof. Katharina Sieverding). Her filmography includes “Bartleby” (1998 with Stephan Geene), “Hey Production” (2001), “Ping Pong d’Amour” (2003 with team Ping Pong) and “The Uninvited” (2005 with Karin Pesch). She has taught sculpture and video at the Kunsthochschule Berlin, Weissensee and at the Merz Akademie Stuttgart. She currently lives and works in Berlin.