In 1988 director Cynthia Beatt invited Tilda Swinton and sound artist Simon Fisher Turner to join her on a filmic adventure, cycling along the Berlin Wall. They wanted to document the places the Wall had cut through, but also tried to capture West Berlin's introspection as well as glimpses of East Berlin on the other side of the Wall. In the summer of 2009 they returned to re-trace the now 'invisible frame' in a second film - this time meandering between its two sides, looking for what has changed.
Beatt’s deceptively simple and free-flowing two-part document, driven by the flâneuse-on-wheels, raises questions of collective memory and healing, and of how to capture history and the invisible on film. At the same time it cannot help but be a portrait of Tilda Swinton, in 1988 a little-known avant-garde performer, now a Hollywood star and household name.
At Cynthia Beatt’s request we will screen the 2009 film first, exploring the barely traceable city history, before unearthing a past that seems both alien and oddly familiar.
We are delighted to welcome Cynthia Beatt to introduce the screening.
Thanks to the Goethe-Institut Glasgow.
