» HOMO ERECTUS, ETC «
Werkschau Michael Brynntrup
11 Semana de Cine Experimental de Madrid
16th to 23rd of November 2001
supported by Goethe-Institut Madrid (Instituto Alemán)


Werkschau | Retrospectiva

Programm 1 - 20.11.2001 - PLÖTZLICH UND UNERWARTET: DER ELEFANT... (1993)
Programm 2 - 21.11.2001 - SHORT FILM SELECTION (1989 - 1998) - this program


Programm 2 | program 2
(81 min | 7 films | 16mm + 35mm | 1989 - 1998)



TODESSTREIFEN - ein deutscher Film (TS VV III)
THE DEATHSTRIP - A German Film (TS VV III)
9:30 Min. | 1995 | BetaSP + 16mm | col | sound [MBCFILM#47]
The desolate stretch of land on an overgrown graveyard: on June 17th, 1983 a main character crosses the dead no-man's land, - an incident.
Ten years later: on October 3rd, 1993, - an inspection.
{Information sheet of the film, 1995}
DIE STATIK DER ESELSBRÜCKEN
THE STATICS - Engineering Memory Bridges
21 Min. | 1990 | 16mm | bw | sound [MBCFILM#32]
(Filmpuzzle) | (puzzle film)
Rests and tests from the inquiry into prototypes.
Formal proofs through pregnant experiments on one's own body.
{Information sheet of the film, 1990}

Test cards, doodlings, film techniques and visual experiments - the mechanics of film itself form the narrative of »Die Statik der Eselsbrücken«. And again, the result is hypnotic.
(headpress Manchester, 3/91 - David Kerekes)
KAIN UND ABEL - eine Moritat
CAIN AND ABEL - A Moral
10 Min. | 1994 | 16mm | col | sound [MBCFILM#45]
(Lehrstück) | (instructional play)
A queerly provocative retelling of the Bible story about a man's bloodlust for his brother.
(Mix '95 New York, Festival Catalogue)

Taking imitation to profane heights, Brynntrup even has the male character Abel, played by Ichgola Androgyn, give birth to a baby (doll) out of his anus. Here all recourse to notions of biology and gender specificity is abandoned.
(Alice Kuzniar, "The Queer German Cinema", Stanford University Press, July 2000)
NARZISS UND ECHO
NARCISSUS AND ECHO
14 Min. | 1989 | 16mm | bw | sound [MBCFILM#30]
(Rätselfilm) | (riddle film)
Long seemed invalid the Prophet's word, - But honored it was, - By the outcome at last: - How odd the maddness, how strange a death! (Ovid, Metamorphoses)
{Information sheet of the film, 1989}

Brynntrup creates his own rococo version of the classical myth of Narcissus and Echo, a story of longing, love, and self-love. Brynntrup comments "A film in the form of a riddle is a special kind of entertainment film whereby the film's content must be deduced from the film's formal structure."
(Information The Museum of Modern Art Department of Film, 1992 - Karen Lund)
LIEBE, EIFERSUCHT UND RACHE
LOVE, JEALOUSY AND REVENGE
7 Min. | 1991 | 16mm | col | sound [MBCFILM#35]
(Lehrfilm) | (educational film)
You know very well, that nowadays many countries produce films in their own language ... (original with subtitles).
{Information sheet of the film, 1991}

The witty »Love, Jealousy and Revenge« explores the mobile meanings of language in film with the help of sophisticated telecommunications; an aural/oral offering.
(Hygiene and Hysteria Tour Program, UK 1994 - Sarah Turner, Ian Rashid)
ALL YOU CAN EAT
ALL YOU CAN EAT
5:30 Min. | 1993 | 16mm + 35mm | col | sound [MBCFILM#42]
(Kopffilm) | (head film)
Using found footage from the early 70s porn films, Michael Brynntrup creates a humorous and titillating moving collage of mediated erotic imagery - one that keeps promising the viewer always anticipated cum shot, as well as asking the question, "How 'graphic' does an image have to be before it comes pornographic?"
(Mix '95 New York, Festival Catalogue)

»All You Can Eat« by Michael Brynntrup takes the 'cum-shot' to new heights with a montage of some of the wildest, orgasmic, facial expressions ever composed to a mellow, easy listening sound track.
(Boys On Film No.6, cover text, dangerous to know 1996)
TABU V (wovon man nicht sprechen kann)
TABU V (About Which One Cannot Speak)
13:00 Min. | 1998 | 16mm | col | sound [MBCFILM#52]
(Tagebuchfilm) | (film diary)
About which one cannot speak, one must make films.
(loosely based on Ludwig Wittgenstein)
{Information sheet of the film, 1998}

TABU V plays with the medium of film in a light-hearted and inquisitive manner; a concentrated, intelligent and multilayered film in which wit is juxtaposed assuredly with profound, searching analysis.
(New York Film Academy Award - Best Short Film, Panorama 1998)