When Quang’s sister Mai becomes pregnant out of the blue, one thing is clear to him: this new chapter in their lives will change the family forever. He picks up his camera. He works on the film on the film for seven years, collecting photos, diaries and telephone conversations. Using a DIY scrapbook aesthetic, he weaves the present together with memories and images from the past. We travel with Quang back to his youth in the northern Vietnamese province of Lào Cai near the Chinese border. Nine years his senior, his sister Mai introduces him to cool music and trendy fashion, while his mother Cuc dreams of a traditional family. This is a dream that is slipping ever further out of reach: her son is gay and her daughter is living with schizophrenia. As an adult, Quang moves to Hanoi, where he can finally feel free, and his distance from his family grows. Years later, Baby Guava brings Quang closer to his family again. The child brings them together, but also lays old tensions bare. Different ideas about what constitutes a “normal” life have long been met with silence. With brutal honesty and intimate, sometimes uncomfortable insights, Quang looks at his family and the unspoken pain and resentment that stand between them. And he also shows the hopes and efforts at finding understanding and acceptance despite everything in order to provide Baby Guava with a loving environment.

Seggen Mikael

Bára Basiková is a Czech rock icon. She left a lasting impression in the 80s as lead singer of the bands Stromboli and Precedens and continues to fill concert halls as a solo artist to this day. Numerous musicals also live from her presence. Famous for her fascinating, approachable longitudinal portraits, Helena Třeštíková shows Basiková’s turbulent life over the decades. Her love of art and her search for fulfilling partnerships are recurring themes. More than once, Basiková is forced to admit that a relationship has failed and must risk a new start. Money repeatedly proves scarce and the burden of everyday life sometimes almost forces her to her knees. Yet Třeštíková never dwells too long in any one moment: the editing is fast-paced; over feature-film length, “Bára – Diary of a Rockstar” conveys a speed and richness of experience that seem to stand in direct relation to the protagonist’s lifestyle. Basiková is driven, a romantic and a fighter. Třeštíková brings substantial themes in her own unique way to the fore: what are the consequences of deciding to dedicate your existence to a passion full of uncertainties? What roles do age and aging play for a woman? And last, but not least, how to always keep things going?

Carolin Weidner

A transmedia documentary based on three years of research on the Murg river, this work takes its shape in a manner inspired by the river itself. Images and sounds flow from one piece to another, forming a documentary that is alive rather than set in time and bound to a single frame. “Becoming River” has many parts, four of which are exhibited here. Two 2-channel video installations (FLUSSORAKEL and STAU/FALL) share the same surfaces and run in a continuous loop. FLUSSKINO is a selection of documentaries, fictions and performances filmed along the river. HYDROSPHÄRE is a sculpture of video monitors that give an insight into the flow of the Murg. SCHWEMMLAND is a sound installation based on live data sent from a probe on the Murg.

By flowing through different media and projects, documenting the river for its nature, people and various identities, the piece becomes an investigation of a body over time, and the diversity by which one may be described.

Dana Melaver

The small kitchen table around which director Kamila Serwicka, her two sisters and their mother Agnieszka squeeze themselves has something symbolic about it: the space they each have while living together is restricted and somehow shrunk down; expansion is bitterly needed. Yet this crampedness also allows an intimacy to be experienced, a solidarity that supports and protects. In “Blossoming”, Serwicka creates a portrait of her family, who were profoundly affected by the alcoholism of the father and husband for many years. The tension when he enters the room is tangible – they all keep their distance in an attempt to shield themselves from verbal violence and emotional manipulation. Yet the film doesn’t remain in this oppressive status quo: when the addict leaves, a transition process begins which throws up sensitive questions. How was it possible to ensure such a situation for so long? Why did Agnieszka never separate from her husband? How will things now be? Over the course of five years, the Serwicka women expand their gaze, find new perspectives and standpoints – and new connections with each other, also in religious rituals. “Blossoming” bears witness to a both a challenging escape and a reawakening long overdue. A reminder that nothing has to stay the same.

Carolin Weidner