Through the creative use of archival material, these delicate films tap into memories of abuse, retrace personal trauma, and explore collective hope. This compilation program includes Between Delicate and Violent, Newsreel 242 – Sunny Railways and Our Special Little Secret.
After the screening the filmmakers will join us on stage for a short Q&A with the audience.
Between Delicate and Violent
Artists call it “hand memory,” knowledge that isn’t stored in the brain but in the body, and is activated when you start painting, sculpting or drawing. Şirin Bahar Demirel sets out to get an understanding of it. She wonders what memories are passed on through the hands, and whether we can read the aggressive nature of a painter from their brushwork, or the desires of a textile artist from their embroidery.
Newsreel 242
In Yugoslavia in 1947, 211,000 of the country’s young people, joined by 5,735 from abroad, worked with great enthusiasm building the 242 kilometer railroad between Sarajevo and Šamac. A newsreel from the period shows them toiling away with spades, pickaxes and shovels to complete the job in just seven months. Newsreel 242—Sunny Railways is both a tribute to these idealistic young people and an elegy for the loss of hope for a better world
Our Special Little Secret
A smiling, naked toddler is encouraged to show off how strong she is. The same child plays in a basin in the shower and later dances naked around the room to music. These are innocent, cheerful images of a playful child being filmed by family members, but the captions give them sinister connotations. Filmmaker Anna Hanslik was the child in question.
Anna Hanslik – 16′ – France – French, English