Open-Air Film Screening
States of Fragility
21.8., 20:00
Free admission

With films by Factory of Found Clothes (FFC), Eva Giolo, Sky Hopinka, Yeo Siew Hua, Pauline Curnier Jardin, Hannes Lang, Alice Rohrwacher & JR and an introduction by the curator Katherina Perlongo

During the summer break, the KINDL invites visitors to an open-air film programme exploring the topic of fragility both artistically and thematically. The curated selection, titled States of Fragility, features seven short films by contemporary international artists and directors. These films explore themes of transformation and change, the natural cycle of life and death, and the rituals in between. They engage with myths, ancestors, and traditional beliefs, portraying a vulnerable world and the fragility of ecosystems. Some films reference actual events and build narratives around them, while others unfold through montages of images and the creation of atmospheres. The overarching theme of fragility and its far-reaching facets connects all the films.

Pauline Curnier Jardin, Explosion Ma Baby (2016, NL / IT / FR, 9:12 min.)

In Explosion Ma Baby, artist Pauline Curnier Jardin follows an annual procession in southern Italy honouring Saint Sebastian. Images of fireworks, confetti, and drum rolls create an intoxicating and intense atmosphere. Men hold naked, screaming babies up to the sculpture of the saint, who has also been revered as a queer icon since the Renaissance. Money and babies participate in this ritual of masculinity as symbols of life and power. The sequences depict an exuberant present day infused with ancient beliefs, where the sacred meets the profane. In the extravagance of this Catholic rite, the boundaries between life, Eros, and death blur.

Factory of Found Clothes (FFC), Triumph of Fragility (2002, RUS, 5:03 min.)

Triumph of Fragility by the artist duo Factory of Found Clothes (Gluklya (Natalia Pershina) and Tsaplya (Olga Egorova), 1995–2012) documents a performance in the streets of St. Petersburg shortly after Vladimir Putin came to power and reflects on the power and authority-driven hierarchies in Russian society. A troop of trainee marines moves in unison, holding snow-white miniature dresses to their chests. The film subverts stereotypes of male power and female weakness, transforming the military drill into an absurd reversal and disarming the construct of the strong soldier’s body.

Alice Rohrwacher & JR, Omelia Contadina (2019, IT / FR, 9:53 min., Italian with English subtitles)

In Omelia Contadina, director Alice Rohrwacher collaborates with photographer and street artist JR, along with the inhabitants of the Alfina plateau in Italy, to stage a funeral ritual. Larger-than-life photographs of farmers are laid to rest, mourning biodiversity and the profession itself. The film highlights the challenging living conditions of smallholder farmers in this Italian region, commemorates the millennia-old agricultural culture, and warns against its disappearance and the dire consequences.

Yeo Siew Hua, An Invocation to the Earth (2020, SGP, 16:10 min., Malay with English subtitles)

An Invocation to the Earth by director Yeo Siew Hua was produced in 2019 amidst devastating fires in the forests of Indonesia. Shot in the deep tropical rainforest of Southeast Asia, the film conjures the spirits of ancient animals – the kancil (mouse deer) and the buaya (crocodile) – through a series of incantations. Seeking revenge for the destruction of their habitat, they express their fury in a dance. The film is dedicated to the murdered environmentalists of Southeast Asia and honours activists fighting against illegal logging, destructive mining, and corrupt agribusiness.

Eva Giolo, Flowers Blooming In Our Throats (2020, IT / BE, 8:37 min.)

Flowers Blooming In Our Throats by the artist Eva Giolo portrays a world out of balance. Produced shortly after the first lockdown implemented in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the film consists of repetitive image sequences. Symbolically ambiguous movements and gestures – hands supporting, escaping, grasping, or striking – impart a sense of discomfort and tension, evoking the collective anxiety experienced during this period.

Sky Hopinka, Anti-Objects, or Space Without Path or Boundary (2017, USA, 13:05 min., English and Chinuk Wawa with English subtitles)

In the film Anti-Objects, or Space Without Path or Boundary, artist Sky Hopinka captures images from areas in Oregon and Washington that had long been home to the Chinookan peoples of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. Hopinka’s images are accompanied by audio recordings of Wilson Bobb, an elderly resident of the Grand Ronde Reservation, who was among the last surviving fluent speakers of Chinuk Wawa when his speech was captured by anthropologist Henry Zenk in the early 1980s. Zenk played a pivotal role in preserving and reviving the language today. Hopinka views language as inseparable from its environment. The film’s title is inspired by texts by architect Kengo Kuma and suggests a way of looking at everything as “connected and intertwined.”

Hannes Lang, Riafn (2019, DE, 29 min.)

Over the course of one summer, director Hannes Lang accompanied inhabitants of the Alps, who developed a unique form of long-distance communication. Considering the wind, mountain walls, and altitude differences, they communicate across distances of many hundreds of metres. The film Riafn portrays these individuals as being deeply connected to the natural world. The fleeting act of calling to one another, echoing through mountains and valleys, is transformed into a sensual experience.

Curator: Katherina Perlongo