ROTE OHREN FETZEN DURCH ASCH

Living Archive Festival is finally here and last night was the resplendid grand opening at Arsenal Inst  fur film und video kunst that was packed beyond the rafters.  The evening began with Daniel “Haji”Hendrickson as Jehovah of Armies introducing the triumph-verant team  of Milena Gregor, Birgit Kohler and Empress Stefanie Schulte Strathaus who gave impassioned speeches kicking off the 50 year jubilation that is the Kino Arsenal and this most ambitious monthlong artistic observation that is Living Archive.  The VIPs who gave further tribute:  Bernd Neumann State Minister for Culture and Media who promised to support Arsenal for the next 50 years.  He was being recorded so this saavy politician will have to stay true to his word.  Also Hortensia Voelckers the Artistic Director of the German Federal Cultural Foundation and Erika and Ulrich Gregor, the co-founders and long term directors of the Freunde der Deutschen Kinemathek and the first Family of German Avante gard cinema.  In the foyer was a delicious spread catered by Trattoria A Muntagnola and drinks bartended by the Gersch Twins: Salome & Richard with assistance by Garet.  Everyone was in a festive mood and feeling quite celebratory.  Ran into Darryl Els the bright eyed and sparkly South Afrikan curator/studkin whose Living Archive program is this Thursday at 6pm.  Susanne Sachsee of CHEAP was looking quite lovely and her video installation will open tonight at the KW along with the Ludvig Schonherr install.  Herr Schonherr’s gorgeous wife and muse Trixie Cordua was filled with her usual good cheer, along with Uli Ziemons and his hot girlfriend Julianne, Marcin Malaszczak, Julian Radlmeier, Marc Siegel, the always stunning Dorothee Wenner whose Family Affairs docu can be seen at the Arsenal’s website and in the Arsenal’s Rote Foyer, DJane Olga Damnitz, Angela Anderson, Constanze Ruhm, Angela Melitopoulos, Florian Zeyfang, Stephan Geene, The Reboot FM Radio team, Gertrude Koch, Birgit Hein, and Eunice Martin who after the party masterfully accompanied the 1928 Soviet film by Alexander Dowshenko that gave the Arsenal its name.

GEIST IM EXIL

Met with film historian suprema Marc Siegel, Muslim Jihadist Daniel Hendrickson and East German intermedia starina Susanne Sachsse at Kino Moviemento for the 8^th Annual Xposed Queer International Film Festival.  Was delighted to be able to catch the retrospective screening of the re-discovered short subjects of overlooked underground gay filmmaker Avery Willard.  This electric program was wonderfully moderated by Toby Ashraf and featured screenings of the films Gay Boys from the 1940s which looks very much like internet amateur porn of today where two fit and well endowed young lads engage in some robust fornication, followed by Rugged Men, 1964, Reflections 1966, Dream Boy, 1967, Clouds 1968 and Salome- Dance of the Seven Veils 1965  featuring Mario Montez look-a-like Adrian, the devils daughter.

Making a live appearance with his sensational films Dandy Dust and Flaming Ears was the geniuses genius that is the one and only Hans Scheirl in Berlin from Vienna just for the festival.  When I first saw Dandy Dust back in Los Angeles in the late 1990s it mesmerized me.  Dandy Dust is a movie unlike any other and is a whirling dervish of hypnotic imagery, that is smart, whimsical and lusty.  The plot revolves around a patrician humanoid’s interstellar misadventures throughout the ages. Its as if Gertrude Stein’s Orlando and Baron Muenchhausen were merged with James Joyce’s Finnigan’s Wake. 

I had never seen 1991’s Flaming Ears, so it was an utter  treat.  A large group of us retreated for dinner after Dandy Dust at a nearby Indian Restaurant so unfortunately we missed about 30 minutes of Flaming Ears which I found to be a saaphic sci fi version of Joseph Losey’s Modesty Blaise with not one but three different versions of Monica Vitti. After the screening Mr. Scheirl was joined on stage with co-directors Ursula Puerrer and Dietmar Schipek for a lively round midnight Q&A session.  In the audience making the festival scene: Anna Muelter, Max Jorge Hinderer Cruz,with the beautiful and brave Liad, the Isaeli widow of the late queer theorist dreamboat supreme Tim Stuettgen, Angela Melitoupolous, Katja Diessenbach, art theoretician Sabeth Buchmann, Piero Bellomo, ginger  artist Gwynel,and producer Jurgen Brunning with young sexy Turkish/German actor Fahri Yardim.

Manuel Schubert and I had a juicy time visiting the studio and atelier of kJohnnyBlue in KreuzKoelln interviewing him about his Living Archive project for FilmHighlights Magazine.  kJohnny was very gracious and generous allowing us into his highly masculine musical world.  Manuel and I were lucky to be given tiny  preview tidbits of the lovesexy Mr. Blue’s upcoming musical performance which take place on June 29^th at 11pm at the Gruner Salon at the Volksbuhner.

Last night Ms. Nancy Barton of NYU and her handsome Jewish stud of a husband Michael took me out for dinner at East London-God Save Brit Food.  We had a fab time together along with Professor Dr. Lawrence Rickels who is the curator of the exhibition Wood(s) at Zwinger Galerie that opened May 18^th till July 13^th.  The lovely bound catalogue for the show Woods-On Identification With Lost Causes looks beautiful and I can’t wait to poor through it.  Dr. Rickels is also involved in the Whole Earth Exhibition and Conference at Haus der Kulturen Der Welt  that is curated by Diedrich Deiderichsen and Anselm Franke giving a talk on Cybernetics and Holism on Saturday June 22^nd.