Projects & Events
2023
Übersetzung: Victoria Amelinas Essay "Nothing Bad Has Ever Happened"
Victoria Amelina * 1.1.1986 in Lviv – † 1.7.2023 in Dnipro.
Ukrainische Phantastikautorin; getötet durch einen russischen Raketenangriff auf ein Restaurant. Sie sagte, kein Autor sei jemals wirklich vergessen, solange er gelesen wird – sorgen wir dafür, dass Victoria Amelina nicht in Vergessenheit gerät!
Meine Übersetzung ihres Essays "Niemals ist etwas Schreckliches geschehen" auf Michael Perkampus' Die Veranda. Original in Arrowsmith Journal Vol. 7,
o. J. Arrowsmith Press, USA. Mit sehr freundlicher Genehmigung des Verlegers Askold Melnyczuk.
In ihrem brillanten Essay folgt sie entlang der Hauntology den Motiven des Spukhauses und Horrorfilms: In ihrer Heimatstadt Lviv begegnet sie den Geistern der Vergangenheit, darunter Stanislaw Lem.
2012
Picture copyright: BBC
Doctor Who? Science Fiction Films, War and Non-human Rights
Talk & discussion as part of Helsinki Refugee Film Festival 2012
15.11.2012 at 18:00 at Old Arkadia International Bookshop, Pohjoinen Hesperiankatu 9, Helsinki, Töölö
Whereas Science Fiction literature has always dealt with more serious political and social issues, films tend to be more entertaining, action-laden and playful. But does this mean they’re also less thought provoking?
Festival director and curator Silke Brandt likes to discuss with the audience how close to reality political drama needs to be, whether entertainment and insight can – or should – go hand in hand. We’ll take a closer look at science fiction narrative and character design in TV series Doctor Who (e.g. episodes like 'The Impossible Planet'), talk about illegal aliens and non-human rights. Other films which might come to mind are District 9 or the X-Men movies.
And what about the ‘real’ refugee films? Do we consider it hard work and no fun to watch them at the cinema? How entertaining are they allowed to be? When it comes to feature films, there might be a gap between social drama and SciFi entertainment – would we, the audience, like to see it closed?
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Link to invitation by Arkadia
Helsinki Refugee Film Festival takes place 22. – 25.11.2012. More info: helsinkirefugeefilmfestival.wordpress.com.
Talk & discussion as part of Helsinki Refugee Film Festival 2012
15.11.2012 at 18:00 at Old Arkadia International Bookshop, Pohjoinen Hesperiankatu 9, Helsinki, Töölö
Whereas Science Fiction literature has always dealt with more serious political and social issues, films tend to be more entertaining, action-laden and playful. But does this mean they’re also less thought provoking?
Festival director and curator Silke Brandt likes to discuss with the audience how close to reality political drama needs to be, whether entertainment and insight can – or should – go hand in hand. We’ll take a closer look at science fiction narrative and character design in TV series Doctor Who (e.g. episodes like 'The Impossible Planet'), talk about illegal aliens and non-human rights. Other films which might come to mind are District 9 or the X-Men movies.
And what about the ‘real’ refugee films? Do we consider it hard work and no fun to watch them at the cinema? How entertaining are they allowed to be? When it comes to feature films, there might be a gap between social drama and SciFi entertainment – would we, the audience, like to see it closed?
-----
Link to invitation by Arkadia
Helsinki Refugee Film Festival takes place 22. – 25.11.2012. More info: helsinkirefugeefilmfestival.wordpress.com.
2011
Pic by: Johanna Vattuaho
21.9.2011 - Remembering and Writing Pleasure / Pain by Silke Brandt
(Translation of "Der Vergangenheit die Gurgel durchschneiden")
Arkadia International Bookshop
Do we remember lust and pain in pictures like with a virtual camera, recalling what was happening at the moment we felt them – a ‘who did what’? Do we talk about our reaction – tell that we screamed instead of saying what from exactly? Do we use clichéd phrases to communicate what was going on inside our bodies, because it seems to be a language everyone understands? Do we edit memories of sensations like deleting unwanted holiday pictures?
Silke likes to explore possibilities of a language of the body, of communicating actual sensations – in all their complexity. Instead of telling pleasure/pain as the simple ‘operation instructions’ we are used to find in romance as well as in porn, in victims' testimonies as well as in horror fiction. Info invitation
(Translation of "Der Vergangenheit die Gurgel durchschneiden")
Arkadia International Bookshop
Do we remember lust and pain in pictures like with a virtual camera, recalling what was happening at the moment we felt them – a ‘who did what’? Do we talk about our reaction – tell that we screamed instead of saying what from exactly? Do we use clichéd phrases to communicate what was going on inside our bodies, because it seems to be a language everyone understands? Do we edit memories of sensations like deleting unwanted holiday pictures?
Silke likes to explore possibilities of a language of the body, of communicating actual sensations – in all their complexity. Instead of telling pleasure/pain as the simple ‘operation instructions’ we are used to find in romance as well as in porn, in victims' testimonies as well as in horror fiction. Info invitation
Copyright & source: www.arkadiabookshop.fi
13.6.2011 - Erotic Fiction and Dystopia. Short Stories by Silke Brandt
Arkadia International Bookshop
Silke reads from “Vertebrae”, an erotic text on the fictional relationship between two historical serial killers. It’s less about violence than finding beauty in strange places, telling about the fears of people who themselves are perceived as monsters. The plot’s structure corresponds to chiropractic connection between organs and vertebrae. Secondly “The Unnamed Zone”, a dark story on suppressed history – about a rural, post-apocalyptic society, where the abnormal is everyday-life: superstitions, healing methods, caretaking, nightmares and dementia. Info invitation
Arkadia International Bookshop
Silke reads from “Vertebrae”, an erotic text on the fictional relationship between two historical serial killers. It’s less about violence than finding beauty in strange places, telling about the fears of people who themselves are perceived as monsters. The plot’s structure corresponds to chiropractic connection between organs and vertebrae. Secondly “The Unnamed Zone”, a dark story on suppressed history – about a rural, post-apocalyptic society, where the abnormal is everyday-life: superstitions, healing methods, caretaking, nightmares and dementia. Info invitation