DATE: DeCeMber 13th, 7 pm.
Shortfilm program + Intro + Q&A mit Matthias Müller
Program by Miri Ian Gossing & Felix Bartke
This collection of 5 short films explores the intricate relationships between artists and their mothers, addressing the challenges of working-class motherhood and the lasting echoes of transgenerational trauma.
Blurring lines between experimental-, fictional-, and documentary forms, Dear Mum presents deeply personal narratives that show moments of love & brutality, conflict & resilience.Each film offers touching artistic strategies in reflecting how our earliest bonds shape identity and life experiences across generations.
Despite individual struggles, a thread of humor, hope, and forgiveness runs through these works, like fragile ties that hold us together.
“DEAR MUM, …” PERFORMANCE – 10′
“Dear Mum , … I wish you had a better life.”
WILL YOU LOOK AT ME – Shuli Huang, 2022, 20′, mandarin with english subtitles
A young Chinese filmmaker returns to his hometown in search of himself, a long-due conversation with his mother dives the two of them into a quest for acceptance and love.
HEY SWEET PEA – Alee Peoples, 2023, 11′, english without subtitles
Parental ageing and an existential wave collide in fun and surprising ways in the suburbs of LA.
Dislocated B-roll, meandering voicemails of a mother, and readings from the 1984 children’s sci-fi movie The Neverending Story combine to situate our collective grief in the hazy mundanities of everyday life.
WASP – Andrea Arnold, 2003, 25′, english without subtitles
In late summer, worker wasps no longer find enough food to feed their larvae. That’s why they look for sweets. Although they are not particularly aggressive, they will sting if irritated.
ICH DARF SIE IMMER ALLES FRAGEN (I MAY ALWAYS ASK HER ANYTHING) – Silke Schönfeld, 2023, 15′, german
The felling of a cherry tree becomes the starting point for an intimate cinematic dialogue between a mother and daughter. The line between the need for understanding and the desire for healing blurs, as the camera persistently documents the tree’s removal in the mother’s garden. This short film attempts to find a shared language for addressing the unspeakable consequences of child abuse within the family.
ALPSEE – Matthias Müller, 1994, 15′, no dialogue
“Photographed with an exquisite eye for interiors and restless invention, ALPSEE stages a boy’s coming of age, that painful rend between infant dependency and mature individuation. Nearly wordless, Müller proceeds by analogy and synecdoche, gathering up presicely framed moments within the home and collecting them as evidence. Its gorgeous chromatic scheme and high key lighting mark a signifiant departure from MÜller’s narow gauge efforts of the 80’s.“ – Mike Hoolboom
Q&A with Matthias Müller after the screening
Content Notes: sexual violence within the family, mention of child abuse
