Pornographie Exclusive Anthology Film at Oldenburg Film Festival 2024

“A film is – or should be – more like music than fiction,” Stanley Kubrick once said. “It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what lies behind the emotion, the meaning, everything that comes after.”

The Oldenburg Film Festival and the Brussels-based Cold Wave/Electro-Rock duo Pornographie Exclusive have taken this to heart. On Friday evening, they will stage a special show in the form of the world premiere of an anthology film entitled One-way ticket to the other sideaccompanied by a live concert by Pornographie Exclusive (PE), at the Oldenburg State Theatre.

The organizers promise to take the audience on a “journey through the labyrinths of the human psyche.”

PE is composed of the actress and dubbing specialist Séverine Cayron (The Belgian Wave) and writer, director and cinematographer Jérôme Vandewattyne (Spit'n'Split, The Belgian Wave) which last year was awarded the Audacity Award in Oldenburg, which is given to a film that pushes the boundaries of modern cinema – in his case: The Belgian Wavea psychedelic drama set in the early 90s, when there was a wave of UFO sightings in Belgium and the country was diagnosed with a collective psychosis. Inspired by the festival atmosphere, Vandewattyne and Cayron teamed up with Oldenburg festival director Tobias Neumann and his partner, Canadian actress Deborah Kara Unger (The game, Thirteen, Fear X), to produce an anthology film.

The result is One-way ticket to the other sidemade with short films that are contributions from the EPs themselves and 10 directors and former Oldenburg students, each of whom was inspired by a track from the band's debut album. The not-so-blockbuster budget for each film contribution: 100 euros ($110).

Oldenburg describes the film as “a cinematic, musical and surreal journey that follows two masked characters, stoic outlaws with a mysterious past, as they wander through a world suspended between end and beginning, dream and reality.”

Friday's show, meanwhile, will combine live music with independent cinema in a showcase of “an out-of-the-box, deeply punk and defiantly free musical anthology, where it's not the journey that inspires the music but rather the music that creates the stories.”

Below are brief comments that the editors of each part of the anthology shared about their respective contributions.

A party in tears by Guillaume Campanacci
“The first time I heard 'A Party in Tears,' I felt violence all around me. A carnal reaction. The lyrics made me transform a beautiful French new wave boy-meets-girl into a nightmare cannibal boy-(m)eat-girl. 'Share with me the demons you hide.'”

Under the black sky by David Gregory
“I wanted to have some fun throwing back to classic-era music videos using homages, pastiche and experimenting with digital effects, drawing on my passion for old exploitation cinema and still-standing cinema buildings, the people behind these enduring classics and a handful of absurd and occasionally disgusting images, all with the indispensable help of veteran European cult actress Geretta Geretta (Demons, Rats) and visual effects wizard Kyle Broom try out delicious new gooey visuals.”

Electric blue by Douglas Buck
“I found a deep sense of melancholy – of reflection and thoughtfulness – captured in the Electric blue piece that spoke deeply to me and my sensibilities as a filmmaker. Walking alone through the evocative architecture of Old Montreal, mesmerized by the haunting song playing on loop in my headphones, it took little time for the story of the neglected girl Electric Blue and the grieving man she meets to reveal itself to me.”

Desire to travel by Truman Kewley
“The challenge of creating something visually compelling within the confines of this anthology was one I embraced wholeheartedly. I feel incredibly fortunate to be a part of this project. The song required strong imagery, blending layers of stillness and movement in a dynamic way. Collaborating with Jérôme and Séverine, we created Desire to travela surrealist piece that delves into the theme of loving something that seems impossible to love.”

Fire That The Pain by Martina Shone Radunski
“The text suggests that pain drives us to seek connection, which leads to beauty, creativity, and deeper relationships. My short film offers a counter-interpretation by showing my protagonist V seeking connection but being rejected, demonstrating that pain can also deepen loneliness, even when we long for companionship. Yet despite this painful isolation, the film suggests a glimmer of resilience.”

Invitation to suicide by Buddy Giovinazzo
“The first time I heard 'Invitation to a Suicide,' it painted a place in my mind that was both eerie and beautiful at the same time. I decided to let the music take me back to my roots, to a place where I felt at home. Naturally, that would be the dirty, decaying city of Berlin.”

Loving cosmetics salesman by Patrycja Planik and Andreas Horvath
“A nameless creature falls onto a stony landscape, releasing energy that fuels life and color in the surroundings. The cosmic clash of alien flesh and million-year-old structures evokes the spectacle of the consuming lava that once created the Earth.”

From a view of the bridge by Jérôme Vandewattyne and Séverine Cayron, aka Pornographie Exclusive
“We had planned to introduce Icon with a strange catwalk, lit only by the characters’ van. However, a sudden change of location caused by the arrival of destructive gangs forced us to rethink the atmosphere, transforming what was intended as a simple interlude into a full segment. We shot and composed 'From A Bridge View' in 48 hours, a real creative trance. We were absorbed in our game, and it was a real pleasure.”

Icon by Jen Gatien
“I was immediately drawn to the relentless, pulsating beat of 'Icon' and immediately imagined a fantastical journey. Influenced by Gaspar Noe and Dennis Hopper, I wanted to create a hallucinatory motorcycle journey through the neon-lit nightclub environments of New York City to the Mississippi swamps. To me, the song 'Icon' feels cinematic and emotional, so I wanted to feel transported to an abstract world, where nothing is linear.”

Crepes by Katsuki Kuroyanagi
Inspired by the word “Cracks”, the film is set in an old area of ​​Shibuya in Tokyo that has escaped redevelopment, and represents a metaphor for the gap between the masses and the subway.

Slander by Edgar Pera (whose film Telepathic letters (Telepathic Cards), created with AI images, will be screened in Oldenburg)
“The idea for this film is not really important. What was important were the feelings and sensations I had when I first heard 'Slander'. When I make a film, I don't want to show anything. I want to talk about something, through the medium of cinema, and hearing 'Slander' gave me the right energy, vibrations that already resonated inside me. So, 'Slander' for me is the perfect combination, a combination made in hell (AI).”