The Succession of the Future

All films shown in this programme originate from post-socialist countries and reflect the encounter of Yesterday’s Society of Tomorrow – Socialism – with the reality of Today. The animation Heroes No Longer refers to the founding fathers of Socialism – Marx & Co. – who officially still represent the state-supporting ideology in China, but in reality have been replaced by a novel form of Capitalism. By using rap Artzone-Timezone explores the opposition between traditional and contemporary art in China. Mary Koszmary stages a past utopia: the welcome return of the Jews to socialist Poland. Unforgettable Memory on the other hand addresses memories of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. In Bitch Academy we witness the ideologically and pragmatically equally charged process of the heroine of labour being re-transformed into the traditional image of woman as accessory of man.

Heroes No Longer, Sun Xun, cn 2008, 9min
Artzone-Timezone, Kamen Stoyanov, cn 2009, 4min
Mary Koszmary, Yael Bartana, pl/il 2007, 11min
Unforgettable Memory, Liu Wei, cn 2009, 13min
Kak Stat Stervoi – Bitch Academy, Alina Rudnitskaya, ru 2008, 30min