Film Program: Terms and Conditions #01, Sep. 23 & 24, 2024, 8 pm, Arsenal Cinema, Berlin
On September 23 and 24 (and October 15 and 16), HaFI will present a two-part program at Arsenal Cinema as part of “Terms and Conditions: The Legal Form of Images.” The research project is dedicated to the legal matrix of artistic practice and cultural production. The two evenings in September will focus on feminist film practices that address violence against marginalized subjects, aiming to find formal and narrative strategies that avoid creating further mechanisms of oppression. Further information about the screenings in October will follow shortly.
Terms and Conditions #01: Feminist Film Practices and the Legal Framework of Moving Images
The first evening centers around the short film CORPO DI REATO (Body of Evidence, 2024) by the Italian feminist collective “Collettiva,” (Marta Basso, Sara Cecconi, Carlotta Cosmai, and Alice Malingri). This work in progress is shedding light on the censorship of the film about sex work, A.A.A. Offresi (1981), by feminist filmmakers Loredana Rotondo, Paola De Martis, Annabella Miscuglio, Rony Daopulo, Mariagrazia Belmonti, and Anna Carini, which was banned by Italian television. On March 12, 1981, presenter Marina Morgan announced that A.A.A. Offresi would not be aired “at the formal request of the president of the parliamentary oversight commission.” CORPO DI REATO reenacts the story and seeks a fictional revenge: the announcement is interrupted by a group of activists in colorful balaclavas storming the studio to read the screenplay of the censored film. The screening will be followed by a conversation about the films A.A.A. Offresi as well as Un processo per Stupro (A Trial for Rape, 1979).
CORPO DI REATO
Dirs.: Collettiva (Marta Basso, Sara Cecconi, Carlotta Cosmai, Alice Malingri), Italy, 2024, digital file, OV/EnglST, 10 min.
and other films
Mon. September 23 at 8 p.m.
Guests: Collettiva, Annamaria Licciardello (Film curator, Historian, Archivist, in person); Giulia Sbaffi (Historian, online)
Moderation: Clio Nicastro
Location: Arsenal Cinema 1
To the admission tickets
The second evening focuses on audiovisual practices that challenge the structures governing the production and dissemination of images, especially under the conditions of legal uncertainty and imminent state violence. How can images protect their subjects while also expand and subvert the visual form, moving beyond popular tools like blurring and fabricated evidence? We approach these complex issues through Oraib Toukan’s VIA DOLOROSA (2021) and Marwa Arsanios’ WHO IS AFRAID OF IDEOLOGY, PART 1 (2017). Starting from Toukan’s concept of the “cruel image,” the discussion will center on how both films acknowledge the violence inherent in the camera, including its colonial underpinnings, and creatively navigate the limitations of visual representation.
VIA DOLOROSA
Dir.: Oraib Toukan, Palestine/Jordan, 2021, digital file Engl. and Arab, OV/EnglST, 21 min.
and
WHO IS AFRAID OF IDEOLOGY, PART 1
Dir.: Marwa Arsanios, Iraq/Kurdistan/Lebanon, 2017, digital file Arab. and Kurd., OV/EnglST, 23 min.
Tue. September 24 at 8 p.m.
Oraib Toukan and Marwa Arsanios in person
Moderation: Agata Lisiak and Clio Nicastro
Location: Arsenal Cinema 1
To the admission tickets