Cédric Venail. A Virus in the City

9 pm
Film screening in the presence of the director
followed by a discussion between Cédric Venail and Andreas Lewin

Venue
Zeughauskino, German History Museum
(Zeughausgebäude, entrance from the Spree side)
Unter den Linden 2, D-10117 Berlin
Admission: 5 Euro

In the framework of the exhibition ABSALON, in cooperation with KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Zeughauskino Berlin and the Festival DOKU.ARTS present the documentary A Virus in the City by Cédric Venail.

The Israeli artist Absalon created an oeuvre of exceptional complexity and consistency. His preoccupation with basic geometric forms (the rectangular, the square, the triangle and the circle) led him to minimalist living units, the Cellules. These were geometrically structured, white "cells"-objects between sculpture and architecture, adapted to his own body measurements and needs-which he planned to set up in six cities to live inside. In 1993 Absalon died at the age of 28 and the project thus remained unfinished. In his documentary Venail follows the voice of the artist, a lecture on the Cellules, which Absalon gave shortly before his death. Venail traces the cells and leads the audience to those places for which they were originally intended-to Paris, Zurich, New York, Tel Aviv, Frankfurt/Main, and Tokyo.

A Virus in the City (France 2008, 80 minutes)
Screenplay & Director: Cédric Venail
Cast: Absalon, Mireille Roussel, Cédric Venail
Cinematography: Simon Beaufils & Laurent Desmet
Sound: Marc Parazon & Sandrine Beeri
French filmmaker Cédric Venail is the founder of the Société Ferrerienne Pour la Suite du Monde. His first feature film, A Virus in the City, has been shown in various international film festivals. Andreas Lewin is founder and artistic director of DOKU.ARTS. The exhibition ABSALON at KW Institute for Contemporary Art shows the complexity of Absalon's aesthetic and conceptual forms for the first time in its entirety and is on view until February 20, 2011.

With kind support of Institut Français.