Dec 15, 2021
Forum Expanded: First Works Confirmed

Newly appointed section heads Ala Younis and Ulrich Ziemons and the curatorial team are in the process of finalising the 2022 selection and have already chosen a number of works.

The first works selected for the film programme give an impression of the wide range of cinematic approaches indicative of the section.

In her dense, multi-layered collage film Sol in the Dark, Mawena Yehouessi convokes the elusive figure(s) of (the) Lascar(s) – from South East Asian seamen enrolled on European ships between the 16th and 20th century to 1990's second generation immigrant BIPOC youth from the French outskirts – as an avatar for fugitive identities in a post-internet world.

Home When You Return by Carl Elsaesser centres on the passing of a family member. Combining a tour of her empty home with an amateur melodrama produced in the 1950s, the film tangibly evokes a life and an era lost to time.

O Dente do Dragão (Dragon Tooth) by Rafael Castanheira Parrode references the accidental radioactive contamination of Goiânia in 1988, the birthplace of the filmmaker. Using treated footage from multiple sources, the film is a meticulous journey into the feelings of curiosity and horror triggered by a nuclear device that appeared in a domestic space.

As the 2021 Forum Expanded group exhibition could not be shown due to Covid-19 regulations, the ten selected installations will now be presented in February 2022, with the exhibition once again to be held at the silent green Betonhalle. It includes installations by Grace Ndiritu, Naeem Mohaiemen, Kerstin Schroedinger and Paula Gaitán. Furthermore, the Marshall McLuhan Salon at the Embassy of Canada to Germany, in Berlin will serve as an additional exhibition venue and SAVVY Contemporary will once again present an exhibition within the framework of Forum Expanded.

Forum Expanded is curated by:
Ala Younis and Ulrich Ziemons (section heads), Karina Griffith, Shai Heredia and Maha Maamoun.

The films of the Forum Expanded programme:

O Dente do Dragão (Dragon Tooth)
Brazil
by Rafael Castanheira Parrode
World premiere

Home When You Return
USA
by Carl Elsaesser
International premiere

Jail Bird in a Peacock Chair
Germany / USA
by James Gregory Atkinson
International premiere

Sol in the Dark
France
by Mawena Yehouessi
World premiere

vs
Austria
by Lydia Nsiah
World premiere

Installations

All of Your Stars are But Dust on My Shoes
Lebanon
by Haig Aivazian

Black Beauty: For a Shamanic Cinema
United Kingdom / Belgium / Spain
by Grace Ndiritu

Jole Dobe Na (Those Who Do Not Drown)
India / USA / Japan / Sweden
by Naeem Mohaiemen

Medicine and Magic
Canada
by Thirza Cuthand
International premiere

Onder het witte masker: de film die Haesaerts had kunnen maken (Under the White Mask: The Film That Haesaerts Could Have Made)
Belgium
by Matthias De Groof

Se Hace Camino al Andar (The Path is Made by Walking)
Brazil
by Paula Gaitán
International premiere

The Song of the Shirt
Germany
by Kerstin Schroedinger
World premiere

Voices and Shells
Germany
by Maya Schweizer

The Wake
Haiti / France / United Kingdom
by The Living and the Dead Ensemble

The Zama Zama Project
USA / South Africa / Canada
by Rosalind Morris
World premiere

Press Office
December 15, 2021