A Zambian Fairy Tale: Rungano Nyoni Discusses Her Debut “I Am Not a Witch” on Notebook
Here’s an interesting short interview with Rungano Nyoni about her singular, strange witch-hunt fairy tale »I Am Not A Witch« (for MUBI Notebook).
»I wanted to make it a fairy tale because I found a really good Zambian way of saying the story, without making it about Zambia. I grew up on fairy tales. I’ve always wanted to do this, actually. In a way, I was trying to get away—perhaps as a first-time filmmaker this is a bit of a cliché—I was trying to get away from ›the arc.‹ It’s always ›the arc, arc, arc arc,‹ and I was trying to do something different. I was trying to do something that I grew up with, which is that my family used to tell me fairy tales and they were really particular. Fairy tales in general are very strange, but Zambian ones mix genres. They’re for kids, but they’re really violent, and they’re funny, and they mix magic realism. All of these things I wanted to take for my film. They are really musical. I was trying to do that.«
Make sure not to miss its Leipzig premiere at GEGENkino 2018: Luru Kino in der Spinnerei, 12th April, 10pm.
Thanks to Forgotten Film Entertainment the film will get the chance to contimate a lot of other German cinemas. But before the official start on May 17, come and watch “Hagazussa: A Heathen’s Curse” at Luru Kino as our opening film for GEGENkino 2018 (on April 5).
Here’s a hint on what to expect:
Now be prepared!
Hey hey! If you find the idea of leaving the house too dangerous or unappealing right now, here’s another option for how to get to read are new, fresh and hot GEGENkino 2018 booklet. Just follow this link…and there you go! If you want to download the whole thing, follow this way!
(Thanks again to ricaletto and Alex Brade for design and layout and to Gangart Werbung GmbH for spreading it!)
Unleashing the whole GEGENkino 2018 programme in one single blow! Here it is – so keep the dates (5–15 April 2018) clear and come on over!
More infos about the single events and films will be up soon.
(Thanks to Alex Brade and Ricaletto for layout and design and all—super nice!)
Politics go on, the world goes on, film goes on, the analogous cause goes on, the digital cause goes on, seasons go on, life goes on, our teeth get worse, but the bite stays. We are delighted – this year, GEGENkino turns 5! And we’re still thirsty for action! The quest for extravaganza, peculiarities and potentials of cinema continues. Once again, we want to render film and video visible in their uncomfortable, courageous and involving facets, illuminate relevant contexts and argue about its sensual entanglements.
GEGENkino takes place from April 05 until April 15, 2018 at UT Connewitz, Luru Kino in der Spinnerei, Institut fuer Zukunft, Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst / Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig & Schaubühne Lindenfels.
GEGENkino 2018 Program Table
| Do 05. April 2018 Luru Kino | OPENING FILM |
| 9 PM | HAGAZUSSA – A Heathen’s Curse (D/AT 2017) R: Lukas Feigelfeld 102’ |
| Fri 06 April 2018 Luru Kino | HOMAGE: Sensory Ethnography Lab |
| 8 PM | SWEETGRASS (USA 2009) D: Ilisa Barabash & Lucien Castaing-Taylor 101’ |
| 10 PM | FOCUS ON NEPAL: STEPHANIE SPRAY SHORT FILM REEL (USA 2008-2010) Σ 93’ |
| Sat 07 April 2018 Luru Kino | HOMAGE: Sensory Ethnography Lab |
| 8 PM | FOREIGN PARTS (USA/F 2010) D: Véréna Paravel & J.P. Sniadecki 80’ & SINGLE STREAM (USA 2014) D: Pawel Wojtasik, Toby Kim Lee & Ernst Karel 23’ |
| 10 PM | FOCUS ON CHINA: J.P. SNIADECKI SHORT FILM REEL (USA/CHN 2010-2017) Σ 120’ |
| Sun 08 April 2018 Luru Kino | HOMAGE: Sensory Ethnography Lab |
| 6 PM | SOUND WORKS: ERNST KAREL (2011-2014) Σ 85’ |
| 8 PM | CANIBA (F 2017) D: Véréna Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor 90’ |
| Mon 09 April 2018 UT Connewitz | JUNG & FRISCH |
| 8 PM | SARAH JOUE UN LOUP-GAROU (D/CH 2017) D: Kathaina Wyss 86’ |
| 10 PM | TESNOTA / CLOSENESS (RUS 2017) D: Kantemir Balagov 118’ |
| Tue 10 April 2018 UT Connewitz | HOW TO RESIST… |
| 8 PM | MEDIUM COOL (USA 1969) D: Haskell Wexler 111’ |
| 10 PM | CAMERAPERSON (USA 2016) D: Kirsten Johnson 103’ |
| Wed 11 April 2018 UT Connewitz | LIVE SCORE |
| 9 PM | GEGENkino: Tomaga (UK) add live score to Lucifer Rising & Early Abstractions: LUCIFER RISING (USA/UK 1970-80) D: Kenneth Anger 28’ & EARLY ABSTRACTIONS (USA 1939-56) D: Harry Smith 23’ + opening film: MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON (USA 1943) D: Maya Deren & Alexander Hammid 14’ |
| Thu 12 April 2018 Luru Kino | |
| 8 PM | HOW TO RESIST… METEORLAR / METEORS (GB/F/D 2017) D: Gürcan Keltek 98’ |
| 10 PM | JUNG & FRISCH I AM NOT A WITCH (GB/F/D 2017) D: Rungano Nyoni 98’ |
| Fri 13 April 2018 Institut fuer Zukunft | LIVE SCORE |
| 9 PM | GEGENkino presents Raster & Pedro Maia Pedro Maia’s WASTELAND (2015) 30’ + live score by Robert Lippok. Subsequently: Robert Lippok (live set), Grischa Lichtenberger (live a/v set), Mieko Suzuki (dj set) & installations of Raster Video Works |
| Sat 14 April 2018 Schaubühne Lindenfels | HOW TO RESIST… |
| 6 PM | TALK: THE STREETS ARE NOT ENOUGH! HOW TO RESIST ON SCREEN w/ Angelika Nguyen, Julia Lazarus, Filipa César & Dr. Claus Löser |
| 8 PM | SPELL REEL (D/PT/F/GNB 2017) D: Fiilipa César 96’ |
| 10 PM | BELIT SAĞ SHORT FILM REEL (NL/TR 2014-2017) Σ 60’ |
| Sun 15 April 2018 Schaubühne Lindenfels | HOW TO RESIST… |
| 6 PM | SEXY DURGA (IN 2017) D: Sanal Kumar Sasidharan 85’ + opening film: JODILERKS DELA CRUZ / EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH (PHL/SGP 2017) D: Carlo Francisco Manatad 13’ |
| 8 PM | THE NOTHING FACTORY (PT 2017) D: Pedro Pinho 177’ |
+++WORKSHOP+++
07 & 13 April 2018 10 AM – 07 PM @ HGB
Walden – Filmworkshop mit Julia Lazarus
Besides all the hanging out in the cinema, you recluses will also get the Chance to catch some fresh air at this year’s GEGENkino. Artist and curator Julia Lazarus will offer a workshop during the festival, where you’ll get the chance to endeavour in different approaches to creatively appropriate the woods of Leipzig with your camera.
Walden or living in the woods
Film workshop with Julia Lazarus
Saturday, Apr 7th, 10am til 7pm (workshop) & Friday, Apr 13th (screening)
This workshop enters the woods around Leipzig in search for the traces of the great-grandfather of political revolt, pioneer of environmentalism and drop-out Henry David Thoreau. In his 1854 book „Walden“ Thoreau describes his life in a self-built log cabin in the woods of Massachusetts, where he lived two and a half years. Text excerpts from this book and other texts by him will be the jumping-off pointfor short filmic studies.
The forest is primarily a mass of trees, vast and always in motion, influenced by wind and clouds and the interplay of light and shadows. In cinema, the forest often stands for the eerie, the impenetrable and becomes a projection surface for the fears of the protagonists. „The woods“, though, can also be staged as home, as a secret place of refuge for dissidents or simply as a protection against the prying eyes of the others. Presently, the forest is also site and object for political debate with regards to global cimate change. At the beginning of the workshop we will take a closer look at filmic representations of the woods, which can also function as impulses for own recordings. Concluding th workshop there will be a screening of the material, results and ideas. A quick apprentice piece for the creative possibilities of the camera in open air environments.
Requirements: Video capturing device (Phone, DSLR camera or camcorder), sturdy shoes.
Registration fee: 30 euros
Registration: workshop[at]gegenkino.de
Julia Lazarus is a filmmaker, artist and curator and lives and works in Berlin. she studied at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin und am California Institute of the Arts Los Angeles. Since 2001 she does videos and films, which are shown in exhibitions and on international festivals. Her films are distributed by Sixpackfilm Wien and e-flux Berlin/New York. For her most recent film project she followed the Turkish activist group „Kuzey Ormanlari Savunmasi“ into the woods North of Istanbul.
