kagablog

video by sir dark green

http://www.myspace.com/madamepi
http://www.aferecords.com/artists/madame_p.htm

+ Svankmayer’s extraordinary short about the czech church decorated with human bones ( The Sedlec Ossuary ) in Kutna Hora

iLLUSEUM
Witte de Withstraat 120
21:00, doors open at 20:30
Entrance 5 Euros
Reservations can be made at illuseum@Gmail.com

Txt: Bertram Niessen

Mikrosolke, anarchic manipulators of narrations, were born from the meeting of Unz, Tatiana and MM . It is very difficult to explain (and understand) what they do. First of all, we must say there is not a “Mikrosolke” recipe”. It is in fact an improvisation project coming out of fun, sometimes sick, in building fragile (drenched too) bridges between audio and video worlds.

Mikrosolke’s performances are a new wave in the world of Italian audiovisual performances, lately worryingly oriented towards lounge-atmospheres fundamentally inoffensive. Their way to present on stage breaks the mould: to the cold posture peculiar to Tatiana’s and Unz’s laptop performers the unpredictable physicalness of MM (member of Mercoled젡nd Newtone 2060 too) who, between screams and sweat sometimes literally seems to fuck with the instrument (which can be a mixer and a couple of broken record players, a piano or some slide projectors) and sometimes it seems she is about to take off.

Their performance is an underground dirty and infected splinter, the sort with an unpredictable trajectory able to carry you high towards lyric and acid spaces or to make you sink into brutality so as to make your ears bleed. We asked Unz and Tatiana to tell us about their way of working, focusing on their performances rather than on their techniques and aesthetics choices. In their work it is in fact quite clear that those aspects are of secondary importance and that what counts is their energy during lives.

http://www.digicult.it/digimag/article.asp?id=535

www.mikrosolke.org

http://www.galerieknap.org/

Greetings,

I am very pleased to announce a special screening at a very special location.

On May 23rd I will be screening a beautiful film which has rarely been seen because it is still banned in many countries throughout the world. In the united states, for example, you can get from 5 to 40 years imprisonment (depending on what state you live in) merely for owning a copy of this film! It was re-released in Germany last year only to be re-banned within two months.
This screening is in collaboration with Het illuseum.

As usual with my screenings there will be a short introduction to the film.

-Jeffrey Babcock

MALADOLESCENZA

Pier Guiseppe Murgia’s legendary film (1977) about the playful discovery of the romantic and the erotic.
About adolescent memories we tend to forget.
Starring Eva Ionesco ( the daughter of Irina Ionesco, the fotographer, who enchantingly portrayed her daughter many times herself )
A wry example of a document of truth that was banned for reasons everybody repeats but nobody checks. Come and see for yourself !

MALADOLESCENZA (1977)

93 minutes
In Italian with English subtites

When Maladolescenza came out, it was immediately decried as child pornography and the film was banned or heavily cut in many countries. This film is still legal with an X certificate in Austria, but was recently re-declared banned in Germany on July 28th 2006. This is definitely one of the most sought after and controversial films of the 70s.

A chamber play with 3 characters (2 twelve year old girls and a slightly older boy) who create a cruel “menage a trois” with a dramatic and fatal outcome. This is a film about jealousy, erotic obsession and how sex is translated into emotional power. The blunt Lolita-like sexuality of the children, mixed with the cruelty of childhood, all shot with a picturesque cinematography all adds up to a volatile cocktail that keeps this film banned throughout the world.

Lets listen to what some others have said about the film:

1)This movie is definitely a masterpiece. Granted, it shows its age in the props, and the style the characters dress. Still it is a beautiful picture, with very atmospheric camera work, and a fitting soundtrack that ranges from beautiful to unnerving, even disturbing.

The three kids in the plot are the only characters in this movie. They have to carry the whole movie, which makes their performance even more impressive. Lara Wendel is great in her portrayal of Laura, the innocent, naive 12-year old. You just can’t help but feel sorry for the poor little thing. Eva Ionesco while being a beautiful girl, plays the part of the arrogant, cruel, manipulative Sylvia with perfection. As for Martin Loeb, his accurate portrayal of the sadistic punk ruined his career and he was only able to make one more film after this.

After watching this movie, I understood why it is one of the most controversial ones around. The theme of cruelty between kids, and the sexual awakening of adolescents is very dangerous territory to tread on. Still it shows that adolescents and teenagers are not the innocent angels that many adults like to think they are (as I had to find out the hard way), and it does so very well.

2) Often beautiful at a visual level, poignant on its directorial style, joyful but nostalgic at the same time, and ultimately a satisfactory experience for the all-rounded, open-minded viewer.

You may love this movie, you may hate it, or you may simply end up wondering what’s all the controversy about and why is it still banned or heavily censored in certain so-called “advanced” countries.

Not only because it’s a centerpiece both of cinema styles and social perspectives in change and of its own author’s career and I dare say, personal life, but also because it’s one of those rare, last standing moments of sheer honesty which are representative of a bygone era, and indirectly also representative of how close-minded and hypocrite our western world has become in the past two decades, in direct contrast with what should be expected from a society which repeatedly acknowledges itself as the most “advanced” - making it all the more ironic that this simple but interesting movie IS, after all, all about the loss of innocence and youth.
• The poem at the end:

“Please, tell me, do you want to be my playmate?
Do you want to play for ever and ever?
Do you want to feel yourself important with childlike spirit,
to sit seriously at the head of the table,
to pour skilfully wine and water,
to throw pearls, to be happy for nothing,
and to wear old dresses with nostalgia?
Please, tell me, do you want to play the game of life,
of the snowy winter, of the endless autumn?
Shall we drink tea - the ruby tea making yellow smoke -
without saying a word?
Do you really want to live keeping your heart pure,
being silent for a long time,
being sometimes scared ‘cos November is coming,
and ‘cos the street sweeper is a poor sick man
who whistles under our window?
Do you want to play the game of the snake, of the eagle,
of the long journeys, of the the train, of the ship,
of the Christmas, of the dream,
of all the nice things of the world?
Do you want to play the game of the happy lover?
Do you want to pretend to cry,
and to play the game of the coloured funeral?
Do you want to live, to live for ever,
to live in that game that has become so real?
Do you want to lie on the ground covered in flowers,
and do you want…
…do you want to play the game of death?”

*

entrance + membership: 3 euro
open 20:30

* * *
iLLUSEUM-WITTE DE WITHSTRAAT 120-AM*DAM
info - reserveren : tel.020-7705581/ illuseum@Gmail.com
www.illuseum.com

(view unyazi of the bushveld here)

(view unyazi of the bushveld here)

(view unyazi of the bushveld here)

The Head of Conscience, Mikael van Driel and Vilbjørg in the iLLUSEUM february 2005. Still from video recording by Gerard Riksen.

Conversations With Angels

improvisations over texts of Dr. John Dee. David Woolfrey and Vilbjørg in the iLLUSEUM march 2006

listen to an excerpt from this extraordinary performance here

Is proud to present:
Aryan Kaganof
curating 6 precious black pearls
glowing in our Institute of Nocturnal Light
for just one evening,
so don’t miss it:

Kaganof: “these films represent the cream of the crop of ten years of
strange shorts presented at the annual l’etrange festival in paris.
the l’etrange festival is curated by gilles boulanger and frederic
temps, two lovers of the weird and the wonderful. two extremely
passionate and enthusiastic men with great taste in exceptional and
memorable cinema. this selection represents my favourites of THEIR
favourites selected from the many hundreds of strange films that have
shown at their festival. the illuseum is the perfect venue for this
screening i am sure that gilles and frederic would agree.

much love
ak”

HET PROGRAMMA VAN DE AVOND ZAL ZIJN:
THE PROGRAMM OF THE EVENING WILL BE :

The Sandman
Ian McKinnon - GB - 1991
Breathtakingly beautiful eerie animation based on the marvelous story of E.T.A. Hoffmann
A young boys nightmare fantasy.

Eau de la vie
Simon Baré - NZ - 1995

An elegant morbid decadent reality of those who have and those who
have not.

Pâques Man
Michel Leray - Fr. – 2001

A frightening revenge of a father who lost his daughter

Impressions from Rustaveli
Nana Tchitchoua - USA - 2001

Impressions from Rustaveli - Nana Tchitoua

( Short epic fairytale inspired by the 900 yrs old manuscript written
by the Georgian monk, Shotha Rustaveli. The work is a cinematic
intervention into painting honoring the byzantine poetics and
Georgian lineage.)

Suprematist composition no.7: the one possible basis for a
demonstration of the existence of god
Aryan Kaganof - Sa. 2007

A hypnotic experience into the true identity of the divine

The Dead man 2
Ian Kerkhof - Nl. - 1994

The Dead Man 2 - Ian Kerkhof ( met oa. Zyklus ! )

***************************************
entrance + membership: 5 euro
studentenkorting mogelijk
open 21:00
*
Buy your membership for the club !
valid for a whole year :
€40,- only + 10 tickets free
(so you can take your friends!)
separate tickets also possible:
membership €1,-for the night €4,- for the screening
*
iLLUSEUM-WITTE DE WITHSTRAAT 120-AM*DAM
info - reserveren : tel.020-7705581/ illuseum@Gmail.com
www.illuseum.com

Mario Bava ( 1968 )

Diabolik is a fictional character, an anti-hero featured in Italian comics. He was created by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani in 1962. His stories appear in monthly black and white digest-sized booklets. The character was inspired by several previous characters from French and Italian pulp fiction, primarily Fantômas.

Diabolik (John Philip Law) is a master thief who with the help of his girlfriend Eva Kant (Marisa Mell) steals from the rich and government. Inspector Ginko (Michel Piccoli) who is assigned to track down Diabolik whose criminal acts are viewed as acts of terrorism. After Dialolik latest caper the Minister of Finance (Terry-Thomas) grants Inspector Ginko unlimited powers in his search and capture of Diabolik. Inspector Ginko uses a priceless emerald necklace as bait to trap Diabolik. Will the police finally catch their man or will Diabolik slip through their hands again.

The story is all quite routine, but any fan of Bava knows that story is as important to Bava as the sun is to a bat. The less plot for Bava the better, because above all else, Bava is a man of style. More even than any of his contemporaries like Argento, Bava’s films bare the undeniable stamp of its maker. Bava was such a total genius of cinematography, direction and set design, often wearing all those hats during his films, that he could make any scene resonate with a visual energy and wonderment. Most of his horror films are characterized by his stylish use of color, and indeed there are some wonderful uses here, from multicolored gases overcoming the frame, to the swirling paint transitions. But Danger: Diabolik takes style a step further with all of Bava’s groundbreaking matte paintings and imaginative set pieces. Diabolik’s lair comes to life with a combination of otherworldly design coupled with bursts of color, making it infinitely more interesting than the leaden Batman catacombs.kk

Bava’s style is so paramount to his films, from his wild zooms, crazy colors and inventive trickery, that it often takes precedent over all other things. Genre, story, performances, everything all seems redundant to Bava, since his personal stamp is so obvious and so entrancing that the difference from his gialli and his action films seem hardly noticeable at all. His films are like one giant magic show, it doesn’t matter what he is doing, the only thing that resonates is the style of the magician’s execution. So what ultimately prevails in Danger: Diabolik is not the hammy screenplay or the flat acting, but Bava’s ability to use the canvas of film to paint a world of visual intrigue.

29-11-06
***************************************

entrance + membership: 5 euro

open:19h30

*

Buy your membership for the club !
valid for a whole year :
€40,- only + 10 tickets free
(so you can take your friends!)
separate tickets also possible:
membership €1,-for the night €4,- for the screening
*

iLLUSEUM-WITTE DE WITHSTRAAT 120-AM*DAM
info - reserveren : tel.020-7705581/ illuseum@Gmail.com
www.illuseum.com