Personal Focus | SABINE HERPICH
ULRIKE DAMM IS WRITING
DE 2020, D: Sabine Herpich, 13’, german OV, DCP
AN IMAGE BY ALEKSANDER GUDALO
DE 2018, D: Sabine Herpich, 45’, german OV, DCP
AN IMAGE BY SARAH SCHUMANN
DE 1978, D: Harun Farocki, 30’, OV with english subtitles, DCP
Shorter formats on creative work processes: In ULRIKE DAMM IS WRITING, the artist of the same name spreads out long strips of paper in a church, kneels down – and writes down one of her previously written novels in the form of hieroglyphics. In AN IMAGE BY ALEKSANDER GUDALO, a painting is gradually assembled over the course of three quarters of a year in front of a static camera in the studio – it begins with the construction of the frame and ends with the painter’s signature. The film is inspired by Harun Farocki’s AN IMAGE BY SARAH SCHUMANN, which captures the process of creating a painting by the eponymous artist and here enters into a dialogue with Herpich’s film.
| So 14 Sept 2025 | Luru Kino |
| 7 PM | € 7,5 (6,5 ermäßigt) In the presence of Sabine Herpich |
GE/IT/FR 2024, D: Dea Kulumbegashvili, A: Ia Sukhitashvili, Kakha Kintsurashvili, Merab Ninidze, 134’, OV with english subtitles, DCP
After the death of a newborn baby, gynaecologist Nina, who works in a Georgian hospital near the Caucasus, catches the attention from the investigating authorities and the conservative society there. Her additional visits to surrounding farming villages and her performance of secret abortions increasingly become a professional and personal risk for Nina. The contemplative pace and matter-oft-fact cinematography convey both a beautiful poetry and an enormous force, which gives space for quiet resistance while at the same time impressively underscoring the hopelessness of the reality depicted.
| Sun 14 Sept 2025 | Luru Kino in der Spinnerei |
| 4 PM | € 7,50 (6,50 reduced) |
Trailer
BE/LU/IT/FR 2025, D: Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani, A: Fabio Testi, Yannick Renier, Maria de Medeiros, 87’, OV with english subtiltes, DCP
An ageing spy, a glamorous hotel on the C.te d’Azur, a mysterious disappearance: REFLECTION IN A DEAD DIAMOND is a psychedelic spy thriller that breaks down the Eurospy genre of the 1960s into its dazzling components. John D. was once an agent in the service of glamour, but today he is merely a weary witness to his own legend. What begins as a nostalgic reunion with his own history rapidly disintegrates into a kaleidoscopic puzzle of sensory impressions, flashbacks and illusions. Cattet and Forzani continue their cinema of excess: hyper-stylised, fragmented, hypnotic. A sensual, formally rigorous puzzle between Bond pastiche, pop art and paranoid inner worlds.
| Sa 12 Sept 2025 | Luru Kino |
| 10 PM | € 7,5 (6,5 reduced) |
Trailer
Personal Focus | SABINE HERPICH
DE 2024, D: Sabine Herpich, 109’, OV with english subtitles, DCP
At the beginning of the film, musician Barbara Morgernstern turns to the camera while working on her new album, addressing the filmmaker: “Do you know what I intuitively realise? I feel the need to explain to you what I’m doing. But I’m just not going to do that now”, to which Sabine Herpich replies: “You don’t have to.” BARBARA MORGENSTERN: DOING IT FOR LOVE is not a fly-on-the-wall film that attempts to disguise the presence of the camera and the sound recording device out of a desire for immersion. Nor is it a ’participant observation’, but rather an equal exchange between people whose work generally remains invisible to others until the final result.
| Sa 12 Sept 2025 | Luru Kino |
| 8 PM | € 7,5 (6,5 reduced) In the presence of Sabine Herpich |
Trailer
Personal Focus | SABINE HERPICH
DE 2016, D: Sabine Herpich, 81’, german OV, DCP
When David the shoemaker is not just working with leather, nails and wooden blocks, he devotes himself to his sculptures, which are scattered all over the workshop. Over the years, he has distanced himself more and more from natural models – up to today he has arrived at forms that no longer depict anything concrete, but only express themselves. Herpich’s intimate portrait of the artist, which like all her work progresses calmly without background music, never pushes meaning at any point. The camera observes calmly as David pursues his creative activities. Sometimes the taciturn man says something, but it is usually the forms and materials that speak.
| Sa 12 Sept 2025 | UT Connewitz |
| 6 PM | € 7,5 (6,5 reduced) In the presence of Sabine Herpich Introductory talk by film scholar Friederike Horstmann (in German) |
