PM_B3_Film_0110_2021

B3 Biennial of the Moving Image 2021
15 to 24 October
Frankfurt Rhein-Main & Online
Film, art, games, XR, AI, conference, masterclasses

B3 film program: between culture shock and Covid
Masterclasses with Oliver Stone and Doris Dörrie
Discussions about diversity, cancel culture and green producing

(Frankfurt/Main; Offenbach, 4 October 2021)

This year`s opening film at B3, QUEEN OF GLORY (USA 2021), addresses the B3 focus on identity in a special way. The Clash of Cultures, life in or between different cultures, the struggle for diversity or self-assurance in confused times - all this is reflected in the 35 short and feature-length films. Film lovers can look forward to 32 international premieres and German premieres. One of the highlights of this year's B3 will be the fireside chat with Oliver Stone, Academy Award winner and recipient of the B3 BEN Award 2021, on 18th of October. The complete program is available via streaming on the B3 website www.b3biennale.com. Tickets are 5 euros per film.

B3 conference program:

Discussions about diversity, migration, sexuality, and cancel culture

The online conference program of the B3 Biennial focusses on stakeholders of the international film industry and their various concerns. The topics of the scheduled talks, panels and master classes range from diversity, migration, sexuality, and cancel culture to future technologies.

Selected Highlights:

Saturday, 16 October, 11 am

Opening Master Class with Doris Dörrie (film director, producer, writer; GER):

Doris Dörrie is among the most important German writers and filmmakers of our time. At this year`s B3, she will speak about her work and her perspective on the creative industries. She will also talk about how to channel creativity so that the result appeals to others and, in the best of cases, touches them too.

Saturday, 16 October, 3 pm

Talk about diversity. With Clive Nwonka (LSE Fellow in Film Studies; GB), Wendy J.N. Lee (writer, director, producer; USA) und Dela Debulamanzi (actress; GER)

Moderation: Yavuz Kurtulmuş (founder of the TRANSITION International Queer & Minorities Film Festival; TR/AT)

Dr. Clive Nwonka will give a brief about his work on racial diversity in the UK film industry. German actress Dela Debulamanzi will reflect her perspective on contemporary realism and film politics, focusing on black cinema, international cinema, and the representation of socio-political issues in contemporary cinema. Emmy-nominated and award-winning producer, filmmaker and screenwriter Wendy JN Lee will provide an American and global perspective based on her experiences working on her various international projects.

Sunday, 17 October, 4 pm

Fireside Chat with Jasmin Hagendorfer (artist and creative director of Porn Film Festival Vienna; AT):

Jasmin Hagendorfer will dive into different film projects and lifestyles of sustainable sexuality and also talk about the Vienna Porn Film Festival and why this event is a game changer, especially with its focus on ethical feminist pornography.

Monday, 18 October, 6 pm

Talk about Green Producing / Green Filming in the creative industries. With Mark Tort Bielefeld (producer; GER)

Moderation: Johannes Grenzfurthner (filmmaker, actor, professor and nerd; AT)

Creative industries need to face up to the issue of environmental protection. It's no longer just about signing that you produce as sustainably as possible, it's about opening up to new possibilities of green producing and applying them. Mark Tort Bielefeld has dedicated himself to this topic and is looking for sustainable and smart ways to avoid polluting the environment.

Monday, 18 October, 8 pm

Oliver Stone, Academy Award winner and recipient of the B3 BEN Award 2021, will use his virtual fireside chat on 18 October to speak about creativity, his oeuvre and his take on the current global situation.

Selected premieres

The B3 opening film, QUEEN OF GLORY (USA 2021), is a comedy directed by Nana Mensah, starring Ward Horton, Nana Mensah and Elia Monte-Brown. The film tells the story of Sarah Obeng, the brilliant child of Ghanaian immigrants who drops out of her Ivy League PhD-program to follow her married lover to Ohio. QUEEN OF GLORY is a continuation of the classic immigrant story while inspiring laughs and compassion.

Superior (USA, 2021) is a drama directed by Erin Vassilopoulos, starring Alessandra Mesa, Anamari Mesa and Pico Alexander. Protagonist Marian is on the run. She returns to her hometown, looking up her twin sister, Vivian. The lives of both sisters are about to change.

Mayday (USA, 2021) is the debut of director Karen Cinorre. In her fantasy thriller, she mixes genres and beguiles us with a unique world in which options are manyfold and women take their destiny into their own hands. MAYDAY is both a feminist fever dream and an ambitious reinterpretation of the war film, defying expectations and asking what empowerment really consists of.

In A Glitch in the Matrix (USA, 2021), documentary filmmaker Rodney Ascher explores the question "Are we living in a simulation?" with the help of testimonials, philosophical evidence, and scientific theories.

Corona Sick (Germany, 2021) is a short film by Chris Brügge about the consequences of the corona pandemic for artists. The world of an artist is fine ... acting, stage, audience are the elements of her life. But everything changes due to corona. Not her body, but her mind is infected: by fear and madness....

First Date (USA, 2021). In this perfectly staged classic thriller, directing duo Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp skillfully mix elements of black comedy, teen romance, shoot 'em up action and coming-of-age story into a truly entertaining movie that won`t bore you for a second.

Live at the cinema: horror meets Humphrey Bogart

Frankfurt cineastes can look forward to two extraordinary live events as part of the B3 film program. On October 16, 7:30 p.m., cinema expert Adrian Wootton will take a look behind the scenes of Hollywood using the famous film noir classic THE MALTESE FALCON as an example and asking "How do you make a star?" The restored version of the 1941 detective film that made Humphrey Bogart the perfect star in his 42nd film role will be screened. Adrian Wootton is Chief Executive of Film London and the British Film Commission (BFC) and a recognized expert on various film/television and literary topics, including Hollywood, crime fiction and Italian cinema.

Fear is at the core of Austrian film artist Johannes Grenzfurthner's latest work MASKING THRESHOLD. More precisely, "the reactionary fear of degeneration, decadence, regression, cultural decay, historical decay and, last not least, the racist fear of 'contamination'," as the director explained in an interview. The plot: In his makeshift home lab, a wary IT expert conducts a series of experiments in an attempt to cure his severe hearing impairment. Where will his research lead him? MASKING THRESHOLD blends chamber drama, scientific procedural, unboxing video and DIY YouTube channel, offering sweeping vistas of existential pain and decay. Peek into the world of the nameless protagonist in this eerie tale that is by no means for the faint of heart.

The German premiere takes place on 17 October at 8:30 p.m.

Both live events are held at the B3 Festival Center at Astor Film Lounge Frankfurt.

Tickets: www.b3biennale.com

About B3 – An Alliance for the Moving Image

As a cross-media, cross-genre and international moving image festival offering film screenings, exhibitions, conference and workshop programs as well as various competition formats, B3 addresses the discourse on all trends and developments pertaining to the moving image in the areas of film, art, games and VR/XR. The aim of the Biennial, which was launched in 2012, is on the one hand to create a broad interdisciplinary alliance for the moving image, and on the other hand to offer the international cultural and creative industries a comprehensive platform for innovation and exchange. From October 15 to 24, 2021, the sixth edition of the B3 Biennial will offer the world's film, art and media professionals an international platform for innovation, exchange and visibility. B3 2021 will take place as a hybrid festival. A total of around 80 contributors from 25 countries will be featured. The B3 Biennial of the Moving Image is organized by the Offenbach School of Design (HfG) and funded by the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art (HMWK). Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain and Wirtschaftsförderung Frankfurt are main sponsors. Partners include Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, Wirtschaftsförderung Frankfurt as well as Sylvia and Friedrich von Metzler. Strategic partners are the Frankfurt Book Fair, THE ARTS+, Film London and many more. Main event partners are ASTOR Film Lounge MyZeil, MyZeil Shopping-Center, and Satis&Fy.

Press contact

Susanne Tenzler-Heusler

T: +49 173 378 6601

M: presse@b3biennale.de