29.11.2025 | live score | BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING (US 2006, Christiane Cegavske)
US 2006, 71′, no dialogue, DCP
We are delighted to once again put viewing and listening habits to the test at GEGENkino meets Kinoorgel. After Scott Barley’s SLEEP HAS HER HOUSE, silent film organist Jürgen Kurz will again join us in the experiment – this time live scoring a film from 2006 live on the Welte organ – thus combining contemporary cinema with a venerable cultural practice associated with the silent film era up to the end of the 1920s.
This time we present: aristocratically dressed mice, friendly hybrid creatures that are a cross between ravens and bats, turtles pulling carriages, sunflowers and a monster spider with a human face, a frog healer figure, a raven with a skull, and intoxicating celebrations with blood tea and blank playing cards. That said, we are in the middle of the excsssive world of BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING, a surrealistic stop-motion fairy tale for adults, written, animated and produced over a period of 13 years by artist and director Christiane Cegavske. The film tells the story of a group of supercilious white mice who commission the forest creatures living under the oak tree to make a doll for them. The oak tree dwellers fall in love with the finished doll and refuse to give it up. The mice then kidnap the doll and the forest creatures travel after them to get it back.
Shot on 16mm film and rarely to be seen in Germany, BLOOD TEA AND RED STRING is something like a remarkably detailed, contemporary interpretation of Victorian children’s horror stories. The ominous fever dream of the plot goes beyond the conventional form of fairy tales with its mythological level: instead of an educational undertone, the characters relentlessly and now and then amorally pursue their needs. Recurring images and behaviours include substance abuse and intoxication, as well as obsessive, misguided needs for love. Aesthetic references of the film include the works of Jan Švankmajer and the Quay Brothers – other atmospheric kindred spirits include David Lynch and Edgar Allen Poe. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience this darkly sparkling film with a new soundtrack – we are very much looking forward to it!
| Sat 29 November | Grassi Museum Musikinstrumentenmuseum der Universität Leipzig |
| 7:30 PM | Live score by organist Jürgen Kurz Entry fee: 12€ (reduced: 10€) Tickets available at tixforgigs |
Trailer
