The Filmballad of Mamadada
Homage to the life and work of Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (1874-1927), who was part of the New York Dada movement in the 1920s, but unlike many male Dadaists was forgotten with time.
More than 50 young artists bring together her versatility as a sculptor, poet, painter, model and performance artist in this collage that ricochets back and forth between classic narration and experimental form fragments in the style of the ‘exquisite-corpse’ technique invented by the Surrealists. One adds an interview with Jane Fonda, which acquires new significance in this context, while another makes an animation about the consequences of syphilis and the third provides a reconstruction of a lost 16mm film by Duchamp and Man Ray.
No-one will be surprised that the fragments contradict each other because, as a reaction to the chaos of the First World War, Dada denies the existence of an orderly and harmonious reality. The Baroness can be satisfied.
Film details
- Country of production
- USA
- Year
- 2013
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2014
- Length
- 80"
- Medium/Format
- HDcam
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