SPECTRUM ASIA

Crude, wild, absurd, philosophical, funny, colourful, obscure, violent, profound, morbid, nihilistic, trendy, wicked - the aesthetic diversity of the Asian sex films seems limitless and proves outright how rigid and inflexibly structured Western porn can be. All this potential of these films is almost unknown to our country, so this year the Porn Film Festival is presenting a focus which brings to the surface the diversity of sexuality in great filmmaking countries like Japan and Hong Kong but also in young cinematographic-wise countries like Singapore and the Philippines.

JAPAN

Lecture
(in German)
23.10., 20:30, Moviemento 3
Pinku eiga, Roman porno & Ero guro - Anmerkungen zum Japanischen Sexfilm
Marcus Stiglegger, Mainz

Eines der populärsten und langlebigsten Genres des populären japanischen Films ist der Softsexfilm. Zuerst von unabhängigen Studios als sog. "Pink Film" produziert, wurde er später von den größeren Studios als aufwändiger roman porno (romantic porno) in den 1970ern weiterentwickelt, bis er in den 1980ern vor allem als Direct-to-Video-Produktion präsent war. Doch die kleinen, subversiven Pink Filme haben sich bis heute halten können und bilden ein eigenes Genre. Da zahlreiche Pink Filme und Roman Pornos Sexualität und Gewalt verschmelzen, können diese als Teil des ero guro- (erotic grotesque)-Phänomens gesehen werden. Diese sexualisierte Darstellung von Folter hat kein Äquivalent im Weltkino und betont den künstlich-performativen Charakter dieser Filme. In Japan wird das als asobi (Spiel) betrachtet. Die billig produzierten Filme besitzen oft einen politischen Subtext und bedienen sich experimenteller Stilmittel. Wie die Filme von WAKAMATSU Koji zeigen, haben Pink Filme das Potenzial radikaler Agitation. Seit den 1960er Jahren drehte Wakamatsu extrem bizarre und gewalttätige Sexfilme mit marxistischem Kontext. Anders als Wakamatsu gelang etwa ISHII Teruo eine Karriere im japanischen Major-Studio Toei. Zugleich können Ishiis technisch hervorragend inszenierte Filme als Paradigma der ero guro-Tendenz gesehen werden.
Bis heute gilt der japanische Sexfilm als einzigartiges künstlerisches Feld der Provokation und des Experiments. Dieser Vortrag will einen Einblick in die weite Welt dieses sehr spezifischen japanischen Genres werfen - mit Blick auf die beim Pornfilmfestival gezeigten Filme.

Dr. phil. habil. Marcus Stiglegger, geboren 1971, lehrt Filmwissenschaft an den Universitäten Mainz und Mannheim, sowie an der Clemson University (USA). Er studierte Filmwissenschaft, Ethnologie, Philosophie und Theaterwissenschaft. 1999 publizierte er seine Doktorarbeit über Faschismus und Sexualität im Film ("Sadiconazista", 2. Aufl.). Stiglegger gab zahlreiche Bücher über Filmgeschichte, -ästhetik und -theorie heraus. 2006 erschien sein Hauptwerk Ritual & Verführung. Schaulust, Spektakel und Sinnlichkeit zur Verführungstheorie des Films. Neben zahlreichen internationalen Vorträgen arbeitet Stiglegger für die internationale Filmkritikervereinigung FIPRESCI sowie als Autor für die Magazine Filmdienst, epd Film, Splatting Image und Testcard. Seit 2002 gibt er ein eigenes Kulturmagazin :Ikonen: heraus (www.ikonenmagazin.de). Er ist Mitglied des Arbeitskreises 'The Asian Impact' der Universität Mainz, Autor für das Brockhaus Lexikon und bereitet gerade ein Buch zum Thema "Japanese Popular Cinema" vor, das 2010 in Edinburgh erscheinen soll.


Dankon - The Man S NX
26.10., 22:15, Moviemento 2, with "M2M Eyeball"
Japan, 1998, 60 minutes, SONO Sion, no dialogue
An urban fable about a gay police man and a serial killer - an early pink film from one of Japan's most innovative film makers.


RAN-Easter H NX
24.10., 22:15, Moviemento 2, with "Uncle's Paradise"
Japan, 1981, 16 minutes, KAWARAGI Hironao, no dialogue
In the late 70's, under the influence of the punk and post punk movement, Japanese young filmmakers started to make their own films on Super 8, among them ISHII Sogo, YAMAMOTO Masashi and TSUKAMOTO Shinya. They made new generation films in an original DIY style. Inspired by this new independent film movement, the medical student KAWARAGI Hironao made his first film "RAN-Easter". It combined punk and new wave music with Japanese primitive images and Japanese art performance (Japanese Butoh dance and Noh theatre), and he depicted his trauma as an immoral fantasy, based on his own mother complex. In the film, a mother-fucker fucked his mother and killed her, then he cut off her genitals and masturbated with them. He called the film a "visual scandal" but when famous director OSHIMA Nagisa saw it as a judge at an independent film competition, he called it an "inexcusable film!". After this film, Kawaragi started to make the blockbuster Super 8 cyberpunk / SF movie "Crazy Dolls", but the film fell by the wayside. Kawaragi quit film making after the defeat and became a doctor. He died in 2000 from leukaemia. "RAN-Easter" is the only completed film that he left.


Tears Of Ecstasy (Ekusutashi no namida: Chiin) S NX
24.10., 16:30, Eiszeit 2, with "Sex Brain Melody (Ep. 2)"
Japan, 1995, 60 minutes, OKI Hiroyuki, Japanese original version with English subtitles
An experimentally deconstructed version of a pink sex film, including psychedelic escapades and a sound track by John Zorn.


Tokyo X Erotica H NX
23.10., 22:15, Moviemento 2
Japan, 2001, 78 minutes, ZEZE Takahisa, Japanese original version with German subtitles
A philosophically profound meditation about sex and death: young Kenji dies in a gift gas attack while his girl friend, prostitute Haruka, is strangled to death. More than ten years later the two meet again, searching for a future beyond ecstasy and violence.


Uncle's Paradise (Ojisan Tengoku) H NX
24.10., 22:15, Moviemento 2, with "RAN-Easter"
Japan 2006, 64 minutes, IMAOKA Shinji, Japanese original version with German subtitles
Haruo's uncle Takashi moves in with him. Whenever he gets tired, he will take any woman available and takes his nephew along on a bizarre trip into sexual hell.


HONGKONG

Daughter Of Darkness (Mie men can an zhi nie sha) L NX
25.10., 22:15, Moviemento 2
Hongkong, 1993, 96 minutes, Ivan Lai Kai-Ming, Chinese original version with English subtitles
After being raped by her father, teenager Mak Wei-Fong plots revenge against her abusive family who kept silent. Police suspect a young teenager who was horrifically abused by her family and raped by her father of finally snapping and slaughtering them all.


Sex Brain Melody (Episode 2): On The Japanese Doll Complex H NX D FT F
24.10., 16:30, Eiszeit 2, with "Tears Of Ecstasy"
Hongkong, 2008, 18 minutes, Katrien Jacobs, original version with English subtitles
"The Japanese Doll Complex" explores the influence of Japanese manga on the Hong Kong sex scene. The director documents the recent emergence of extremely beautiful ornate dolls that play host to their owner's emotional and sexual desires, which has spawned a sub-culture of erotic doll photography and costume play.


SINGAPUR

Sex By Nationality S X
26.10., 18:15, Moviemento 2, with "Solos"
Singapur, 2008, 10 minutes, X'Ho, English original version
"Sex By Nationality", by the Singaporean Ho, is "dedicated to repression in Singapore", a country that (he believes) wants to have its cake and eat it too by appearing fairly liberal and open to the world. In keeping with that win-win national character, the film's homage is to 'compensate' for the repression with "an unexpurgated tale of homosexual desire". If anything, it is to show what Singapore would want the world to know - that she has gay-tolerance neatly circumscribed in her progress agenda. However, notwithstanding the contorted rationale there, X' Ho isn't about to test that open-ness by submitting his homage for censorship approval back home.


Solos S NX
26.10., 18:15, Moviemento 2, with "Sex By Nationality"
Singapur, 2007, 68 minutes, Zihan Loo & Kan Lume, no dialogue
This mysterious, inventive film from Singapore uses a taboo subject - the sexual relationship between a male teacher and male student - to explore the fallout from an all-consuming love affair. Inspired by true events, "Solos" was banned in its home country for sexual explicitness and tells its story from a distance, giving its characters, who remain nameless, an iconic feel.
What makes "Solos" most radical to 21st century audiences is precisely what makes it cinematic to the core: There is no dialogue. But it would be incorrect to call the film silent, as it makes full use of ambient noise, creating an aural atmosphere that equals the striking digital cinematography. Most of the film is shot in static long-shot, making the silence of the characters palpable and their emotions raw. Though it focuses largely on the prolonged breakup of the student and teacher, the film gives much of its weight to the boy's mother, who acutely feels the loss of her son. Scenes of the teacher and student having sex, arguing and eating are juxtaposed with scenes of the mother, alone and in her omnipresent nightgown, retreating deeper into her world of isolation and melancholy.
Co-directors Kan Lume and Zihan Loo (who wrote the screenplay and also plays the student) demonstrate a flair for poetic imagery, deadpan humor and, most importantly, profound sympathy for their characters.


PHILIPPINEN

M2M Eyeball S NX
26.10., 22:15, Moviemento 2, with "Dankon - The Man"
Philippinen, 2008, 45 minutes, Crisaldo Pablo, Tagalog original version with English subtitles
"M2M Eyeball" is a collection of vignettes of psycho-sexual encounters by Pinoy males who go for same sex cruising or meet-up through the internet. One is mischievously making his own video scandals and posting them on the internet while another takes pleasure in collecting them. A Bi-couple attempts a tryst and another falls for a trick. This is not a movie but just a collection of short vignettes of male-to-male sexual encounters.

Abbreviations:
H = Heterosexual, S = Gay, L = Lesbian, T = Transgender, NX = does not contain explicit sex scenes, X = contains explicit sex scenes, D = documentary film, FT = Fetish, SW = Sexwork (films on sex work and prostitution), F = films made by female directors, A = animation