Art

At M HKA and De Cinema, we approach film as an autonomous art form and aim to break down the divide between narrative and experimental cinema as much as possible. We consider film a living artistic practice within contemporary visual culture and, within the ART section, explore film that moves between cinema and the visual arts.

We present a carefully curated selection of recent, restored, and underexposed works — both national and international — including artists’ films, essay films, experimental cinema, and video works, alongside feature films and documentaries about artistic creation: from painting and architecture to dance, performance, and music.

To strengthen the dialogue between cinema and the visual arts, this programme often connects with current exhibitions and activities at M HKA.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Chelsea Hotel played a major role in Nicola L.’s artistic life. After visiting the hotel several times during the 1960s and becoming closely connected to its residents and vibrant art scene, she moved into the Chelsea Hotel in 1988, where she lived for the final decades of her life. In 2012, Nicola L. turned the spotlight onto these final residents in her film DOORS AJAR AT THE CHELSEA HOTEL. The screening will be introduced by M HKA curator Joanna Zielińska.

Artist, beatnik, rebel, hippie, world traveller, tattoo pioneer, and devoted family man. FELIX, DARE TO DREAM is much more than a film about tattooing. It is the remarkable story of Felix Leu, a free spirit who dedicated his life to art, adventure, and independence.

Widely celebrated as a dancer and choreographer for her distinctive style and as a co-founder of the influential Judson Dance Theater, Yvonne Rainer turned to filmmaking in the early 1970s, after several years of incorporating her 16mm films into dances and performances. Her fourth feature, JOURNEYS FROM BERLIN/1971, is a collage-like meditation on radicalism, repression, and the contradictions between political and private life.