BLONDE COBRA – Festival for queer & experimental cinema

BLONDE COBRA – filmseries for queer & experimental cinema – was established by Cologne based studio and art collective SCHALTEN UND WALTEN. With focus on experimental and queer aesthetics it links feature and artist film with performers, dancers and theorists and thus combining historical and contemporary film and art practices. The BLONDE COBRA winds around Emotion & Affect, Aesthetics of Performance, Ritual and Codes, The meaning of Style, Fetish & Love, Activism & Nature, Perversion & Theory and the question of what a queer aesthetic is (..could be, will be..) apart from its content and the economical structures of film production.

Datum: Sa, 14. Dezember & Sonntag, 15. Dezember 2019

Ort: Turistarama Köln, Mauritiussteinweg 102, 50676 Köln

Tickets: Einzeltickets pro Programm 5€, erm. 4 € / Gesamtticket 13 €, erm. 12 €, Kein VVK / Nur Abendkasse – Kasse öffnet jeweils 30 min vor Programmbeginn

Veranstalter: SCHALTEN UND WALTEN, Lara Nickel, Miriam Gossing, Lina Sieckmann

Website: www.blondecobra.com

Contact: info@blondecobra.com

Samstag, 14. Dezember 2019 // 17:30-19:00 Uhr

JACK SMITH – ESCAPE FROM RENTED ISLAND

The program features a short documentary by Birgit Hein showing iconic queer artist Jack Smith during a performance at the Cologne Zoo in 1974. Excerpts from the 2017 documentary ESCAPE FROM RENTED ISLAND: THE LOST PARADISE OF JACK SMITH by Jerry Tartaglia are commented and discussed in a talk between film theorist Marc Siegel (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt a.M.) and British videoartist Phil Collins.

BLONDE COBRA – filmseries for queer & experimental cinema – was established by Cologne based studio and art collective SCHALTEN UND WALTEN. With focus on experimental and queer aesthetics it links feature and artist film with performers, dancers and theorists and thus combining historical and contemporary film and art practices.The BLONDE COBRA winds around Emotion & Affect, Aesthetics of Performance, Ritual and Codes, The meaning of Style, Fetish & Love, Activism & Nature, Perversion & Theory and the question of what a queer aesthetic is (..could be, will be..) apart from its content and the economical structures of film production.

Samstag, 14. Dezember 2019 // 20:30-21:45 Uhr

CONFESSIONS OF AN ACTRESS

The program CONFESSIONS OF AN ACTRESS is named after the performance by Berlin-based artist and actress Susanne Sachsse. The following films will circle around the figure of the actress and the star, drawing a connection between queer desire, authenticity and fiction.

Shortfilms:

MY LAST FILM – Zia Anger, USA 2015, 9 min

AS MUCH AS ANYONE – Stefan Ramírez Pérez, GER 2017, 17 min

LIFE AFTER LOVE – Zachary Epcar, USA 2018, 8 min

HEY MADONNA – Mike Hoolboom, CAN 1999, 9’30 min

JEDEN TAG – Felix Zilles-Perels, GER 2015, 4’36 min

PLAY – Christoph Girardet & Matthias Müller, GER 2003, 7 min

BLONDE COBRA – filmseries for queer & experimental cinema – was established by Cologne based studio and art collective SCHALTEN UND WALTEN. With focus on experimental and queer aesthetics it links feature and artist film with performers, dancers and theorists and thus combining historical and contemporary film and art practices.The BLONDE COBRA winds around Emotion & Affect, Aesthetics of Performance, Ritual and Codes, The meaning of Style, Fetish & Love, Activism & Nature, Perversion & Theory and the question of what a queer aesthetic is (..could be, will be..) apart from its content and the economical structures of film production.

Samstag, 14. Dezember 2019 // 22:30 Uhr

Programmtitel: VOGUING BALL – HOUSE OF ST. LAURENT EUROPE

The overall theme for the night is the movie NORMAL LOVE by Jack Smith, an experimental film that shows the adventures of an ensemble of glamorously dressed monsters. Become your own glamorous monster and be inspired by the movie’s visual cosmos serving Hollywood kitsch, exaggeration, absurdity and gender-bending characters to create your own personal look.

The House was originally founded as the first German House – the House of Melody (2012-2019) by the German Pioneer of Ballroom, Georgina Philp aka Leo. Since July 2019 the House of Melody has transformed and joined forces with the Iconic House of Saint Laurent (founded 1982 in NYC), represent- ing the international Chapter under the leadership of the European Mother Leo Saint Laurent.

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Sonntag, 15. Dezember 2019 // 17:30-19:30 Uhr

Programmtitel: THE ORNITHOLOGIST (João Pedro Rodrigues, F/BRA/POR 2017, 118 min)

A film by João Pedro Rodrigues, F/BRA/POR 2017, 118 min

When the ornithologist Fernando loses his bearings and contact with the outside world while out exploring in the wilderness, he comes across two female Chinese pilgrims, men wearing spirits of the forest costumes, a deaf and dumb shepherd called Jesus and Amazonian riders. Birds observe him. The deeper he ventures into the mythical jungle and loses himself in it, the more he finds himself. A sensual film inspired by the story of Saint Anthony filmed with Cinemascope and boasting a brilliant sound design. Rodrigues’ films tell of transformations, polymorphous love and drifting identities with elliptical jumps, in parallel worlds full of fetishes and driven by the violent desire of the characters. Despite its stylistic artificiality, Rodrigues’ work is anchored in reality.

Sonntag, 15. Dezember 2019 // 20 – 21:30 Uhr

Programmtitel: AGAINST THE FUR

The program will open with a performance by Cologne-based artist Ale Bachlechner which will transform into the short film program AGAINST THE FUR revolving around motifs of nature, resistance, activism, and exoticized views.

Shortfilms:

STUDIO HALLO #4 – Ale Bachlechner, Jonathan Kastl,

Felix Zilles-Perels, GER 2019 20 min. 

PLEASE RELAX NOW – Vika Kirchenbauer, GER 2014, 12 min

PANDA MOONWALK OR WHY MENG MENG WALKS BACKWARDS – Kerstin Honeit, GER 2018, 8 min

MONIKA M. – Karin Michalski, GER 2003, 20 min

UNBOXING EDEN – NeoZoon, GER 2013, 5 min

Closing Ceremony with Cindy Moped , 15 min