"Censorship" - Shortfilms in discussion

What does censorship mean concretely, in art, in everyday life, in one's own thinking?

On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, Die Junge Akademie invites you to an evening of short films and discussions as part of the series diejungeakademie@. The programme was curated by Nausikaä El-Mecky (art historian at the University of Pompeu Fabra and member of Die Junge Akademie) in cooperation with Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck (co-founder of the shorts/salon & director of the Berlinale Shorts). Together with filmmakers and experts, the audience is invited to dive into the topic of "censorship" through conversation.

Podium: - Nausikaä El-Mecky (Die Junge Akademie, Pompeu Fabra University) - Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck (Director Berlinale Shorts) - Ömer Alkın (media and cultural scientist) - Mischa Leinkauf (filmmaker and artist) - Annette Schuhmann (Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam)

Short Films: The filmmaker Ines Moldavsky lives in Israel, the Palestinian territories are just around the corner and yet they are unknown territory. The state does everything to keep people apart, to prevent them from getting to know each other. The conflict has been kept alive in this way for decades. So what do you do about these barriers in your head, barriers that you have grown up with and cannot get rid of so easily? With her short film The Men Behind the Wall, Moldavsky dares to take a closer look and uses the dating platform Tinder to make contact with Palestinians across the wall.

Stopping dialogue, separating people from each other, forbidding them to speak freely and think independently - these are also characteristics of censorship. Kaputt describes how in the GDR the inmates of the women's prison Hoheneck were worn down with forced labour and their speech directly forbidden. Where Moldavsky is still allowed to fight for freedom, the political prisoners Gabriele Stötzer and Birgit Willschütz have to cope with isolation and strict, merciless rules in prison.

But how can a word, a political conviction, a work of art, pose such a threat and become a danger to the system? Two American flags all in white are waving on the Brooklyn Bridge in Symbolic Threats - and cause politics, the media, and residents to outdo one another with conspiracy theories, fear of terrorism, and security fantasies. It's both involuntarily funny and very frightening at the same time, what such an anonymous art action can trigger. How easy it is to provoke when thought patterns, conventions and the feeling of control are undermined. The Men Behind the Wall Ines Moldavsky Israel 2018, 28 min. English, Hebrew, Arabic with English subtitles

Kaputt Volker Schlecht, Alexander Lahl Germany 2016, 7 min. German with engl. UT

Symbolic Threats Matthias Wermke, Mischa Leinkauf, Lutz Henke Germany 2015, 17 min. English with German subtitles

The event is part of the activities surrounding the 20th anniversary of Die Junge Akademie. Admission is free of charge. The minimum age for admission to the events is 18. The event will be held in German. Interested? Please register here: anmeldung.diejungeakademie.de (Due to the Corona regulation registration is necessary for participation.)

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