3. PornfilmfestivalBerlin on Youtube – English
Manuela Kay and Emilie Jouvet during the International Short Film Competition
Impressions of the 3. Porn Film Fest Berlin
Reviews: Disorientations.com is Travis Jeppesen – Charles Lum
Charles Lum
Charles Lum at the 3. Porn Film Festival Berlin
One of the highlights of this year’s Porn Film Festival was last night’s screening of a suite of short films by Charles Lum, The HIV Collection. Taken together, the films form a fractured feature of sorts that sustains itself thematically through a deployment of repetition that borders on confrontation, yet is never tedious. The films are extremely personal, and address various facets of the artist’s life as an HIV-positive gay man – particularly his pained ambivalence surrounding issues of sex and discretion.
Morning, Noon & Night serves as a sort of “day in the life” of Lum. Park, at only seven minutes, is one of the best (and funniest) films about cruising I’ve yet seen. The longest film, facts. SUCK, is as blunt as its title, portraying Lum’s conversations with his own doctors, shrinks, nurses, and pharmacists, then juxtaposing these interactions with footage of himself speaking directly to the camera on issues of desire and self-image. In Indelible, we are bombarded with a manic collage of the famous “pig guts” scene from the movie Carrie and footage of cumshots in bareback gay porn; the film is as disturbing as it is funny. Overdue Conversation is a split-screen conversation with one of his close friends, wherein each films the other, about whether it is necessary to disclose your HIV status before having sex with someone. Finally, “black” is another recorded conversation that takes place backstage at the Black Party in New York, wherein Lum interviews another friend about an unsafe sexual encounter he engaged in only moments before.
What makes these films feel so fresh, I think, is Lum’s near total disregard for cinematic convention. In many ways, his approach reminds me of that of the writer Peter Sotos, for whom the direct and explicit conveyance of information takes precedence over lofty notions of form and aesthetics. Lum brings the camera wherever he wants to go and uses it as a tool for his own ends – not to serve some unified conception of art or even a preconceived final product. At the same time, he is never grasping at straws in these films – the camera and the process of recording become an extension of his own being, and work hand-in-hand with whatever the situation happens to produce. There is nothing contrived here, and so it is never boring to watch – you literally don’t know what’s going to happen from minute to minute. It would be interesting to see if Lum could sustain this momentum over the course of a longer film.
In short, Lum’s willingness to submit to the momentary chaos of the life he lives, and generously presents, makes for fascinating viewing material. Taken together, the films comprising The HIV Collection form a complex self-portrait that lingers in the mind long after you watch it, sparking as it does so many questions: questions that are so important, most of us devote our lives to ignoring, rather than confronting them. It is for this reason I believe The HIV Collection will come to be regarded as a classic.
3. PornfilmfestivalBerlin – der letzte Tag…..
So sehen übrigens die Kuratorinnen und Kuratoren aus:
Wiebke, Manuela, Jürgen-Ersatz, Claus und Jochen
Der Boss
Heute ist der letzte Tag…
Im Eiszeit begann es mit dem wunderbaren Dokumentarfilm “Die Heide ruft…..” von Mirjam Mirwald, Danilo Vetter und Marius Zierold:
Matthias Vernaldi (links) und Danilo Vetter (rechts)
Im Moviemento platzte das Kino aus allen Nähten beim Lesbischen Kurzfilmprogramm…. und die Stimmung war Klasse!
Dann kam die Preisverleihung mit dem Preisträgerfilm:
International Short Film Competition
The winner is:
Passion For Football (Passión por el Futbol)
Spain, 2006, 13 minutes, Rut Suso & Maria Pavón
Statement of the Jury:
For its hot, taboo breaking GIRLS T-ROOM SEX, masterful sound design and music use, for natural but compelling performances that lead to a surprized and humorous ending which doesn’t ridicule football or its fans, the jury chooses Passion For Football as its choice for winner of the 2008 short film competition.
Wegen seines heißen, Tabu brechenden GIRLS T-ROOM SEX, wegen seines meisterhaften Sounddesigns und Musikeinsatzes, wegen seiner natürlichen, aber erregenden Darstellung, die zu einem überraschenden und humorvollen Ende führt, das Fußball und seine Fans nicht lächerlich macht, wählte die Jury Passion For Football zum Gewinner des Internationalen Kurzfilmwettbewerbs 2008.
Passion for Football
The winner of the maleflixxx.tv Award is:
Claudette
Schweiz, 2007, 63 Minuten, Sylvie Cachin
Claudette
Danach sollte als weiterer Höhepunkt der großartige chinesische Film “Mu Zi Mei” laufen. Nach den ersten Minuten blieb uns das Herz stehen: die charmante chinesische Produktionsfirma hatte uns eine DVCam OHNE jegliche Untertitel geschickt – bei einem Dokumentar-/Spielfilm natürlich eine mittlere Katastrophe. Aber einige Hartgesottene blieben bis zum Schluß in der rein chinesischen Fassung sitzen. Um Mitternacht gab es dann für die Fans, die geduldig gewartet hatten, eine Vorstellung mit den englischen Untertiteln von der Sichtungs-DVD.
Davor lief noch im vollen Kino der neueste Film von Petra Joy “Feeling it!”.
So ist am Ende doch noch alles gut ausgegangen, und wir sind nach einem reichhaltigen Festival zwar erschöpft und müde, doch glücklich!
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