Family Fatale
Family Fatale
Family Fatale
Sat, 15th of February 2025 – 7 p.m. Hackesche Höfe Kino
Films:
HIPPOPOTAMI
BEFORE YOU FADE AWAY INTO NOTHING
Debate Format: TUNNELBLICK
Whether it’s screenwriting, sound design, or costumes, this format brings together people who share a common role in the filmmaking process, who approach a selection of films from the perspective of their specific craft in order that we might see them anew. In 2025, our focus is on editing.
Guests: Agnieszka Glińska, JJ Lin, Skinner Myers, Ramon Zürcher
In cooperation with: Goethe-Institut Peking
HIPPOPOTAMI
D: JJ Lin, C: Zhang Zhiyong, Wang Zixi, Xu Ge, Wang Zhenhua, DOP: Li Chen, CHN/HKG 2025, 13 Min., Chinese Original with English Subtitles – European Premiere
Knowing the nature and characteristics of hippos becomes a matter of distinction in this film. A man describes them as his favourite animal; a girl dreams of a visit to the zoo. Director JJ Lin develops parables about Chinese society in dialogues that are as astute as they are absurd.
Jianjie (JJ) Lin initially aspired to become a biologist, but was drawn away by the alluring world of cinema, leading him to earn his MFA in Filmmaking from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. His debut feature, BRIEF HISTORY OF A FAMILY, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, World Cinema Dramatic Competition, and the Berlinale, Panorama Section. The film screened at over 60 festivals worldwide, earning numerous accolades, including the Black Panther Award for Best Film at the Noir In Festival, Special Mentions at the Zurich Film Festival and Athens International Film Festival, Best Director at the Beijing International Film Festival Future Forward Competition, and the NETPAC Award at the Cairo International Film Festival. JJ’s new short film, HIPPOPOTAMI, will premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, followed by its European premiere at the Berlin Critics’ Week.
[Tickets]
BEFORE YOU FADE AWAY INTO NOTHING
D: Skinner Myers, C: Skinner Myers, Nican Robinson, John Myers Jr., Matthew Gibson III, DOP: Matthew Halla, USA 2025, 105 Min., English Original – World Premiere
“Rage, rage against the dying of the light”: in one of his best-known poems, Dylan Thomas protested against the too-easy acceptance of death. In BEFORE YOU FADE AWAY INTO NOTHING, Skinner Myers uses this line as a leitmotif – but his protagonists do inevitably have to accept the sudden death of their father. In their handling of the situation, estranged brothers Malik and Tristan are as unpredictable as the form of this film. As in his previous feature, THE SLEEPING NEGRO, Myers demonstrates that he stands for a cinema that is as political as it is personal, and that breaks radically new aesthetic ground. In a series of seemingly placid black-and-white tableaux, he creates an oppressive atmosphere that is hard to shake. An unforgiving family film that begins in an emphatically casual manner and accretes emotional power as it goes.
Skinner Myers is an award-winning writer and director based in Los Angeles, California. A graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, he has written and directed nine films, including CHIMERA, THE LAST SUPPER, OBSCURED, and NIGGER. His film LA TIERRA DEL ÉXODO screened at over 90 festivals worldwide, earning multiple awards. FRANK EMBREE won the Grand Jury Award at HollyShorts and competed for the Oscars in the Best Live Action Short category. Skinner’s debut feature, THE SLEEPING NEGRO, premiered at the 2021 Slamdance Film Festival and Champs-Élysées Film Festival, earning the FIPRESCI Prize and a Visionary Award. Praised by The L.A. Times and Slant Magazine, the film is streaming on MUBI (U.S.) and UniversCiné (France). His second feature, BEFORE YOU FADE AWAY INTO NOTHING, solidifies his cinematic vision. Skinner is currently in pre-production for his third feature, MOODSWING WHISKEY, executive produced by Juel Taylor (THEY CLONED TYRONE). He is represented by The Gersh Agency.
[Tickets]