Tribute to Ulrike Ottinger
Ulrike Ottinger is part of the so-called New German Queer Cinema that formed in the late 1960s. Her approach is more experimental than that of her "realistic" compatriots, e.g. lesbian filmmaker Monica Treut and gay director R. W. Fassbinder. She writes, produces and directs herself. Ottinger’s work is highly stylized, presenting striking, often exotic images with a touch of surrealism. Her films centre around empowered, independent women engaged in adventure or travel, depicting lesbian sexuality and sensuality with pleasure.
Her first feature film is the "lesbian-feminist pirate film" Madame X - An Absolute Ruler . The next one, Ticket of No Return , is a portrait of a lesbian drinking herself to death and the first part of Ottinger's 1980s "Berlin Trilogy", which continued with Freak Orlando and concluded with Dorian Gray in the Mirror of Popular Press . If we consider her collaboration with actress Delphine Seyrig a point of cohesion, Johanna d'Arc of Mongolia , often described as one of the masterpieces of world cinema, could be seen to overlap with the trilogy.
Ulrike Ottinger will be present at the festival.
