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Dark Scenes from Austria: Blackstory & Still Life
ICA: Wednesday 4 December – 18.30
Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), The Mall, London, SW1Y 5AH
http://www.ica.org.uk/whats-on/austrian-film-premiere-blackstory-still-life-qa
The department of German at King's is delighted to invite you to the British première of two new films by up-and-coming Austrian filmmakers, Christoph & Stefan Brunner and Sebastian Meise, and will be followed by a Q&A session with the directors and a wine reception. Released in 2012, the Brunners’ short Blackstory and Meise’s prizewinning feature Still Life form provocative engagements with issues of repression, sexuality and violence. The films have been shown at international film festivals across Europe, North America and Asia, where they have won several significant awards.
The directors trained at the Vienna Film Academy under Michael Haneke and have worked extensively with prominent contemporary directors such as Ulrich Seidl, Michael Glawogger, Leander Haußmann and Sven Regener. The joint screening has been planned in conjunction with a series of research, outreach and teaching initiatives at King’s College London.
The two films portray covert aspects of reality relating to sexuality, violence and gender politics – subjects which have a long tradition of cultural representation in the Austrian context. Christoph & Stefan Brunners’ short film Blackstory features Georg Friedrich and Stefanie Dvorak, well-known stars of Austrian stage and screen, in a fast-paced and darkly humorous tale with fatal consequences. Using split screens, the film devises innovative form to narrate the puzzling story of a crime and its devastating outcome. The film has been awarded prizes at festivals in Spain, Poland and the USA. Sebastian Meise’s Still Life premiered at the San Sebastian Film Festival, where it also received a special jury mention in the New Directors Competition. Beautifully shot and compellingly scripted, the film begins with the discovery of a note written to a prostitute that describes a father’s erotic fantasies and the shattering impact of this revelation on lives in a small Austrian town. Awarded the Grand Diagonale Prize for the best Austrian feature film in 2012, the film is narrated from the perspective of Bernhard, who discovers his father’s letter, and it tells the story of a family struggling to come to terms with this long-repressed secret.
All welcome!
Tickets may be booked on the ICA website:
http://www.ica.org.uk/whats-on/austrian-film-premiere-blackstory-still-life-qa