KINSHIP – Page 2 – Kaleidoskop

QUE DIEU TE PROTÈGE

June 9, 2022/in /by jdtgf_kaleidoskop

Filmmaker Cléo Cohen’s Jewish grandparents migrated to France from Algeria and Tunisia in the 1960s. In her debut film QUE DIEU TE PROTÈGE she sets out to retrace her family’s history and find out whether or not she has to choose between her Jewish and her Arab cultural heritage. With a healthy dose of humour Cléo Cohen documents the conversations with her four grandparents, who turn out to be considerably less talkative than expected and rather underwhelmed by their granddaughter’s enthusiasm. Occasionally just letting herself drift, from her own thoughts to the writings of Albert Memmi on decolonisation, from the bathtub to dance sequences, her search eventually takes her to a completely different Tunis that is nothing like the city her grandmother left behind. (dp)

LINGUI

June 4, 2022/in /by jdtgf_kaleidoskop

Amina lives on the outskirts of N’Djamena with her 15-year-old daughter Maria and upcycles old truck tyres into fire bowls to make a living. When Maria gets pregnant and decides to have an abortion, Amina is faced with the harsh reality of strict laws and religious condemnation. She does everything in her power to help her daughter escape the cycle of sexualised violence she has been a victim of herself and, ultimately, to take revenge and challenge the structural mechanisms of patriarchal domination. LINGUI is a powerful plea for action and resilience in the face of the most adverse circumstances. Mother and daughter experience social cohesion and kinship through Lingui, the sacred bond of solidarity formed by generations of women in a society shaped by men. (dp)

ANOTHER COIN FOR THE MERRY-GO-ROUND

June 15, 2021/in /by jdtgf_kaleidoskop

Four friends in their late twenties are drifting through life in Vienna, from clubs to skateparks, from band practice to parties. A suicide attempt puts an abrupt end to this seemingly carefree existence. It might be a bit late in life to reorient themselves, but there’s still always time for a ride on the merry-go-round. The constant struggle with growing up is accompanied by a longing for something bigger, for a sense of arrival, for a showdown. In his bittersweet feature-film debut, director Hannes Starz gave the dedicated cast around Valerie Pachner and Voodoo Jürgens much room for improvisation. The soundtrack features Alicia Edelweiss, Bulbul, Manfred Engelmayr and Thirsty Eyes – strong voices of Vienna’s music scene which the fictional band Black Candy dreams of conquering in the film.

No second screening at Stadtkino.

A NOSSA TERRA, O NOSSO ALTAR

June 15, 2021/in /by jdtgf_kaleidoskop

André Guiomar’s impressive directorial debut highlights the fragility and corrosion of social housing blocks in Porto and the silenced realities of their residents. Situated on one of the city’s most scenic hills overlooking the river, the Aleixo neighbourhood became an object of interest for political powers and economic visions. Keeping a respectful distance, the film documents its demolition and tells the stories of its residents. We delve into everyday lives in a vibrant quarter, captured in beautiful images and lights that designate sites of displacement and memory. A NOSSA TERRA, O NOSSO ALTAR portrays a community whose sense of belonging has been shattered and celebrates concepts of neighbourhood and solidarity that manifest themselves in crisscrossing clothes lines, birthday parties and barbecues in the stairwells and sharing household chores and childcare in the corridors.

ROCKS

June 15, 2021/in /by jdtgf_kaleidoskop

ROCKS takes us into the lives of a group of young girls in East London. Headstrong and energetic 15-year-old Shola, aka Rocks, overcomes all obstacles to take care of her little brother Emmanuel when their mother abandons them. The film was developed collaboratively with the young cast and oozes life-affirming power in every frame. An electrifying playlist and infectious dance moves, whether on the rooftops of the city or on a train ride through London, further add to the sense of empowerment that can be felt throughout, from daily struggles to making plans for the future together. ROCKS is a poignant celebration of solidarity against all adversity because: »Real queens fix each other’s crowns.«

LUSALA

June 14, 2021/in /by jdtgf_kaleidoskop

Lusala, the adoptive son of a well-to-do family, has started working as a mechanic and has just moved into his own apartment. But instead of making plans for the future, he is struggling with his mental health. He is increasingly haunted by traumatic memories of the physical violence he was exposed to in his childhood. With Brian Ogola portraying the fragile and torn Lusala, the story oscillates between inner turmoil and confronting the demons of the past. In his directorial debut Mugambi Nthiga touches on the emotional depth of a megacity and looks at patriarchal structures of violence, class-crossing families, constructions of masculinity and the fragility of growing up.

FUTUR DREI

June 14, 2021/in /by jdtgf_kaleidoskop

Confident and self-absorbed Parvis spends the summer clubbing and enjoying sex dates. When ordered to do 120 hours of community work at a nearby refugee shelter, an unexpected intensity of love and desire is not his only new experience. Through the friendship with Amon and his sister Banafshe Arezu he gets an insight into the experience of asylum seekers in Germany: the struggle for the right to stay and the need of belonging on a legal, social, cultural, sexual and emotional level. Developed with the Jünglinge film collective, Faraz Shariat’s semi-biographical coming-of-age love story examines queer realities in a homophobic society and migration policies between diasporic realities and the privilege of the German majority society. FUTUR DREI dances through the night to the pop cultural heartbeat of Sailor Moon magic.

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