East/West – Sex and Politics
By Jochen Hick
2008 | 95 min | Independent
A snapshot of the multifaceted life in the megapolis Moscow, with the focus on lesbians and gays who take to the streets for their rights.
Alexej Kiselov
ActorAlexej Kiselov, whose career itinerary remains under a lower public profile, has been recognized for his contributions in European cinema both as an actor and director. Kiselov has showcased his versatility through various roles, often noted for his intense character portrayals. Some notable films in which he has been involved include "Euphoria" (2006), a Russian film directed by Ivan Vyrypaev where he played a significant role. Despite a modest collection of international accolades, Kiselov remains influential in circles appreciating nuanced European filmmaking.
Films
Recommended for you
FtWTF - Female to What The ...
2015 | 92 min | Documentary
After the transition is before the transition. This documentary begins where transbiographies often end. It tells the story of six young people who experience their trans identities in very different ways. Katharina Lampert and Cordula Thym conduct profound and disarmingly honest interviews full of humor about the tightrope walk and the fault lines where gender and identity emerge. The film's examination of masculinity in the queer scene is also a key theme. "The film creates space for non-binary ...
Not Yet Over
2016 | 63 min | Independent
The film follows various women who strive for medical and social reproductive freedoms and premiered at the International Queer Film Festival Hamburg. While Germany wrestles with abortion laws from the Nazi era, migrant women in this country often struggle with the law and the health care system for their own sexual self-determination. The filmmakers create a condensed setting with four women. One wants a child through artificial insemination, the other wants an abortion, the third wants to become ...
Hallelujah!
2006 | 5 min | Queer
Award-winning director Jochen Hick humorous doc HALLELUJAH! follows the Pope's visit to Cologne 2005 and juxtaposes two camps of demonstrators. Award-winning director Jochen Hick follows humorous doc HALLELUJAH! follows the Pope's visit to Cologne 2005 and juxtapostions two camps of demonstrators: Christians on the one hand, and gays and lesbians on the other. Direct Cinema in short form.
My Wonderful West Berlin
2017 | 98 min | Documentary
The newest addition to Jochen Hick's Berlin trilogy about gay life in Germany's capital city - with many current political references. The film explores the roots and the fascination of a city that is still a dream destination and refuge for many gay men from all over the world. Jochen Hick interviews local luminaries such as Romy Haag, Rosa von Praunheim, Ades Zabel and Udo Walz. He and they talk their lives and the struggles they've endured. From the Homosexual Action West Berlin (HAW) to the ...
My Two Polish Loves
2016 | 50 min | Queer
Tali embarks on an intimate journey to Lodz, Poland, to retrace her personal roots. At the center are her two Polish loves: her lover Magda, and her late grandmother Silvia. Berlin-based Tali Tiller is accompanied by her German-Polish partner Magda. The documentary explores how memories of the Holocaust and war are lived, told and passed down from generation to generation of women.
The GDR Complex
2016 | 90 min | Documentary
Young, gay, and conservative, Mario Roellig is a witnesses to the atrocities committed in the GDR. He guides groups through the Stasi prison where he was once incarcerated. A love affair with a politician from West-Berlin made him try to flee to the West, but he got unlucky and was detained at the famous Stasi prison Berlin Hohenschoenhausen. Today Roellig confronts GDR aficionados and is also confronted by people who still believe in social utopias. And he tries to overcome his hurt feelings: ...
Yugoslavia – How Ideology Moved Our Collective Body
2013 | 62 min | Documentary
Tracing changes in the social system from socialist Yugoslavia to Serbia, the film looks at how ideology performed itself in public space through mass performances. For this research-based essay film Popivoda collected and analyzed film and video footage from the period of Yugoslavia (1945 – 2000), focusing state performances such as youth work actions, May Day parades, celebrations of the Youth Day, as well as counter-demonstrations, in particular the 1968 student demonstrations, the civic demonstrations ...
Working On It
2008 | 50 min | Music, Dance, Theater
WORKING ON IT: directors Karin Michalski and Sabian Baumann explore the contemporary queer arts scene in Berlin and how perceptions of femininity and masculinity are constructed. The film asks “What happens when you don’t fit firmly into one box or the other?” - Soundtrack featuring Riot Girrrl bands: Lesbians on Ecstasy, Scream Club, Heidi Mortenson and Rhythm King and her friends.
Children Below Deck
2018 | 94 min | Documentary
Director Bettina Henkel's family originates in Latvia. Together with her father, a psychoanalyst, she embarks on a journey to her roots, which brings to light traumatic experiences of displacement and loss, but also unpleasant truths about her own family. Touching on the subject of trans-generational trauma, the film traces the history of a this little-known part of Europe through dialogue between father and daughter. "An emotional road movie about deep-seated wounds caused by the historical upheavals ...
The Paper Bridge
1987 | 92 min | Documentary
"A touching film full of melancholic tension." (John Bunzl, Wien Tagebuch) "I don't know exactly why I traveled east this winter," filmmaker Ruth Beckermann says of her journey through Eastern Europe. "I think I was just curious to know whether there was still any resemblance to the stories I grew up with." Beckermann's parents met in Vienna after the Holocaust; her father was a war refugee from Romania and her mother was a native of Vienna who settled in Palestine in 1938. Tracing the migratory ...