Ulrike Ottinger: Radical Travels
Embark on a cinematic odyssey of works by the octogenarian German auteur, a brilliantly idiosyncratic filmmaker known for wildly sensuous visuals and avant-garde tales that journey to the most unexpected of places. Ulrike Ottinger: Radical Travels focuses on the films of Ottinger’s that are rooted in the fantastical, and also includes three titles by other directors that she has personally selected.
With thanks to Ulrike Ottinger Filmproduktion and Arsenal Filminstitut e.V.
All images Copyright © UlrikeOttinger
Black God, White Devil
A landmark film of the Brazilian Cinema Novo movement, this underseen 1964 Cannes Competition western returns to the screen in a stunning 4K restoration.
The Blood Countess
Screen icon Isabelle Huppert mesmerises as a glamorous vampire in iconoclastic queer filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger’s high-camp comedy.
Dorian Gray in the Mirror of the Yellow Press
Delphine Seyrig stars opposite model Veruschka (in drag) in this acerbic Oscar Wilde adaptation, an avant-garde take on fake news.
The Enchantment of the Blue Sailors
With glitter, feathers and gender-bending sailors, Ulrike Ottinger’s rarely screened early experimental film sets the scene for her work to come.
Freak Orlando
In what she describes as a “small theatre of the world”, Ulrike Ottinger explores the span of human history in this deeply surreal, outré romp.
Johanna d’Arc of Mongolia
In Ulrike Ottinger’s ultimate ethnographic odyssey, a group of women travelling by train are taken hostage by a Mongolian princess.
Madame X: An Absolute Ruler
Tabea Blumenschein stars as the leather-clad lesbian pirate Madame X, who promises a new way of life to the brave women who dare to join her crew.
Medea
In her only film role, opera singer Maria Callas stars as the infamous sorceress in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s mesmeric take on the immortal Greek tragedy.
Ticket of No Return
An enigmatic woman with no name books herself a one-way trip in order to drink her way through West Berlin in Ulrike Ottinger’s most revered film.
Usinimage
Ulrike Ottinger revisits the locations of her famed ‘Berlin Trilogy’, juxtaposing frank documentation with fantasy.
Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?
Legendary fashion photographer William Klein exploded into narrative filmmaking with this mockumentary, now a cult record of groovy 1960s mod fashion.