Caught in the Act
Caught in the Act
Caught in the Act
Mon, 17th of February 2025 – 7 p.m. Hackesche Höfe Kino
Films:
BITS
VULCANIZADORA
TRAGEDY
Debate Format: STEILVORLAGE
Films inspire debate; they provide an invitation, in some cases a provocation. In this format, people from different fields, disciplines and/or arts come together to discuss the evening’s films and the points of connection between them.
Guests include: Uisenma Borchu, Joshua Burge, Lilliya Scarlett Reid, Bernardo Zanotta
BITS
D: Lilliya Scarlett Reid, C: Betsey Brown, Jon Gries, Morgan Krantz, DOP: Nico van den Berg, USA 2024, 21 Min., English Original
A man, a woman, and a dog walk through Montana countryside at sunset: this seems to be an ideal date. They end up at his place, but then something goes wrong. When the young woman is faced with rejection, frustration starts to grow inside her like some terrible disease. She becomes obsessed with closure, pursuing this man and his new conquests as if he were her prey. But there is something off with this fellow – very, very off. Does their initial aborted tryst awaken in her desire to become a victim? Or does she want to be the ultimate final girl? BITS is a deconstructed serial killer film, as seen from the perspective of someone who is disturbed by being looked at – or really, not being looked at.
VULCANIZADORA
D: Joel Potrykus, C: Joshua Burge, Joel Potrykus, Bill Vincent, Melissa Blanchard, DOP: Adam J. Minnick, USA 2024, 85 Min., English Original – German Premiere
A movie like a bed of breadcrumbs: sometimes funny, sometimes harrowing. Two friends make their way through the woods of Michigan to a lake. All they have with them is camping equipment, junk food, an old video camera and a couple of homemade explosive devices. One of them, played by director Joel Potrykus himself, is completely psyched and talks non-stop, while the other (Joshua Burge) is taciturn and angry. They are clearly up to something important, but what? Potrykus observes these two men who seem to live far away from anything good, beautiful or useful, and whose self-righteousness corrodes their lives. A deep, fascinating unease pervades VULCANIZADORA, a film that not only thematises guilt but makes it all too tangible.
TRAGEDY (TRAGÉDIA) D: Bernardo Zanotta, C: Laís Freitas, Julio Zanotta, NED/FRA/BRA 2025, 15 Min., Portuguese Original with English Subtitles – International Premiere
When he was just 13 years old, Bernardo Zanotta made all kinds of home videos, including a strange amateur horror film in which he starred alongside his father and stepmother. In his latest short film, the director launches a strange new home video venture: TRAGEDY is an experimental lo-fi telenovela that tells the story of a patriarch who gets slaughtered by his angry girlfriend while his son looks on, complicit. As in Zanotta’s previous short films, he speculates here on the twisted genesis of supposedly self-evident things; only now the thing in question is the filmmaker himself.
Bernardo Zanotta:
Born in 1996 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Bernardo Zanotta grew up working in a video store and behind the scenes in theatre production. In 2014, he moved to the Netherlands and graduated in 2018 from the Moving Image department of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. During his studies, he became active in artist-run analogue film labs, experimenting with expanded cinema using 16mm projectors and curating experimental film screenings. His short films, which blend the familiar and the fantastical, have gained international acclaim. Notably, his 2018 film HEART OF HUNGER won the Pardino d’Argento Award at the Locarno Film Festival. Zanotta’s work has since been showcased at prominent venues and festivals, including the British Film Institute, EYE Filmmuseum, FID Marseille, BAFICI, Rotterdam, and Pesaro. He is currently developing his first feature film.