»Working on it«

(DE/CH 2008, with English subtitles, experimental film, 50 min., directors: Karin Michalski & Sabian Baumann)
Guest: Karin Michalski
Moderation: Natascha Frankenberg (Curator IFFF Dortmund+Köln)

On the occasion of International Women's Day, ifs and IFFF Dortmund+Köln will show »Working on it« by Karin Michalski and Sabian Baumann. With the help of interviews and stagings, the film intervenes in the discourse on gender and sexual identity. It addresses how these are constructed at work, in the cinema/TV or in relationships at home. How can these attributions be countered?

The screening is intended to revisit the questions and answers of those involved at the time. (How) have queer-feminist discussions and strategies for dealing with sexism, heteronormativity and racism changed since the film was made?

The filmmakers talk to all the actors about their observations in everyday life and how they deal with them, sometimes in a complex way. The actors are interviewed as specialists for such reworking in everyday actions, but also through actions and cultural products. They talk about what it means and how it is possible to intervene in public images of sexuality and whiteness, to invent a new language for more than two genders, to turn around devaluations of sexual identity in the workplace, to produce T-shirts, to perform.

The film refrains from showing narratives about sexuality and gender as 'authentic' in the sense of a classical documentary. Instead, it seeks experimental cinematic means that expose 'talking about oneself' as a viable fiction and a necessary 'work'.

To stimulate discussion in the cultural sector and at film schools on the topic of gender and diversity, the joint series of ifs and IFFF Dortmund+Köln regularly shows selected feature films and documentaries as well as experimental works and introduces their makers in a subsequent discussion.