With horseback riding comes pleasure, pain, and the kind of purpose that could only be derived from the bond between a woman and a horse. It’s with this in mind that Berlin-based visual artist Ann Oren co-wrote and directed her feature debut “Piaffe,” which is also inspired by the concept of a female centaur, or a woman whose sexual organs are, well, horse-like.
“Piaffe” premiered at the 2022 Locarno International Festival, where it became a critical hit. Co-written by Thais Guisasola, Oren’s “Piaffe” may sound like a surreal drug-induced fantasy: An introverted woman named Eva (Simone Bucio) grows a horse’s tail while foleying sound for a commercial about an equine-inspired drug. Eva becomes part of a Bdsm relationship with a botanist (Sebastian Rudolph) that involves auto-erotic asphyxiation, whipping, and more kinks.
But while Eva is the submissive subject in the relationship, Oren explained to IndieWire that “Piaffe” is...
“Piaffe” premiered at the 2022 Locarno International Festival, where it became a critical hit. Co-written by Thais Guisasola, Oren’s “Piaffe” may sound like a surreal drug-induced fantasy: An introverted woman named Eva (Simone Bucio) grows a horse’s tail while foleying sound for a commercial about an equine-inspired drug. Eva becomes part of a Bdsm relationship with a botanist (Sebastian Rudolph) that involves auto-erotic asphyxiation, whipping, and more kinks.
But while Eva is the submissive subject in the relationship, Oren explained to IndieWire that “Piaffe” is...
- 8/24/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
When singled-out within a purely visual medium, sound becomes intrinsically linked to the theme of obsession: a mystery the eyes can’t see that the protagonist needs to solve. From John Travolta’s Jack Terry unwittingly stumbling into a murder conspiracy when recording foley effects for a slasher flick in Brian De Palma’s Blow Out to Tilda Swinton’s Jessica trying to find the source for the “rumble” that haunts her every waking moment in Memoria, the inability to define a sound’s origin becomes a gripping enigma within a medium that thrives on showing, not telling. Much like De Palma’s film, the latest from visual artist Ann Oren takes as its starting point a recording studio––albeit a makeshift one, set up solely to record the sound effects for a bizarre TV commercial––but follows a much less conventional path to untangle an artist’s growing fixation...
- 8/22/2023
- by Alistair Ryder
- The Film Stage
"Has a gift for both horseplay and foreplay..." Oscilloscope Labs has revealed an official trailer for strange indie film titled Piaffe, made by artist / filmmaker Ann Oren. Opening in US art house theaters this August. This originally premiered at the 2022 Locarno Film Festival last year, and it also played at many other fests including: San Sebastian, Calgary, Hamburg, London, Ghent, Cork, and Denver. Oscilloscope Labs invites you to discover Piaffe, the first feature from award winning visual artist and filmmaker Ann Oren. Sensual, tactile, and a carefully constructed exploration of sexual awakening with a keen awareness of the origins of cinema. When her sibling Zara suffers a nervous breakdown, the introvert Eva is forced to take on Zara's job as a Foley artist. Then, a horsetail starts growing out of the back of her body. Simone Bucio stars as Eva, with Sebastian Rudolph, Simon Jaikiriuma Paetau, Björn Melhus, & Lea Draeger.
- 8/3/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
With echoes of Catherine Breillat, Lucille Hadzhihalillovic, and Peter Strickland, “Piaffe” rides a deep tail of sexual awakening.
The feature directorial debut of Berlin-based visual artist Ann Oren, “Piaffe” follows Eva (Simone Bucio), an introverted and unqualified woman who grows a horse’s tail while foleying sound for a commercial about an equine-inspired drug.
Per the synopsis, as Eva acclimates to the new job, her obsession with creating the perfect horse sounds grows into something more tangible. Eva harnesses this new physicality, becoming more confident and empowered, and lures an unassuming botanist into an intriguing game of submission.
“Piaffe” centers on Eva’s sexual awakening through a dominant-submissive relationship and through animal-centric affect. The film is shot on 16mm and originally debuted at the 2022 Locarno International Festival.
Sebastian Rudolph and Simon Jaikiriuma Paetau also star.
“Piaffe” is co-written by director Oren and Thais Guisaola, with Kristof Gerega, Sophie Ahrens, and Fabien Altenried producing.
The feature directorial debut of Berlin-based visual artist Ann Oren, “Piaffe” follows Eva (Simone Bucio), an introverted and unqualified woman who grows a horse’s tail while foleying sound for a commercial about an equine-inspired drug.
Per the synopsis, as Eva acclimates to the new job, her obsession with creating the perfect horse sounds grows into something more tangible. Eva harnesses this new physicality, becoming more confident and empowered, and lures an unassuming botanist into an intriguing game of submission.
“Piaffe” centers on Eva’s sexual awakening through a dominant-submissive relationship and through animal-centric affect. The film is shot on 16mm and originally debuted at the 2022 Locarno International Festival.
Sebastian Rudolph and Simon Jaikiriuma Paetau also star.
“Piaffe” is co-written by director Oren and Thais Guisaola, with Kristof Gerega, Sophie Ahrens, and Fabien Altenried producing.
- 8/3/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, some of Friday’s 9 (September) TV scheduling has been changed.
The 96 year old monarch died “peacefully” at Balmoral on Thursday afternoon (8 September), according to Buckingham Palace, having spent 70 years as head of state, outlasting her predecessors and overseeing monumental changes in social and political life.
The Queen was Britain’s longest-serving monarch, and her son Charles will be succeeding her as the nation’s new king.
It has been revealed that many channels around the country have changed their schedules following the Her Majesty’s death.
Here’s what we know.
ITV to air Queen Elizabeth II – The Longest Reign at 8.30pm
This tribute will be presented by British presenter Jonathan Dimbleby, charting Her Majesty’s historic 70-year reign. The feature-length documentary will show the role that the Queen played in all areas of her life.
Channel 4 to air Hobby Man at 8pm
In today’s episode,...
The 96 year old monarch died “peacefully” at Balmoral on Thursday afternoon (8 September), according to Buckingham Palace, having spent 70 years as head of state, outlasting her predecessors and overseeing monumental changes in social and political life.
The Queen was Britain’s longest-serving monarch, and her son Charles will be succeeding her as the nation’s new king.
It has been revealed that many channels around the country have changed their schedules following the Her Majesty’s death.
Here’s what we know.
ITV to air Queen Elizabeth II – The Longest Reign at 8.30pm
This tribute will be presented by British presenter Jonathan Dimbleby, charting Her Majesty’s historic 70-year reign. The feature-length documentary will show the role that the Queen played in all areas of her life.
Channel 4 to air Hobby Man at 8pm
In today’s episode,...
- 9/9/2022
- by Peony Hirwani
- The Independent - TV
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2022 Locarno Film Festival. Oscilloscope releases the film in select theaters on Friday, August 25.
Using sci-fi to create a sexual allegory is a staple of body horror genre, just ask David Cronenberg. Now, let us introduce the body pleasure genre. No, not porn, but a character-driven drama in which personal and sexual growth synthesise in the name of erotic cinema.
Visual artist Ann Oren’s debut feature “Piaffe” fits this exact mold, following a meek introvert in Berlin who grows a horse’s tail and has a sexual awakening. Oren’s teasing style is the perfect route into the story. Shooting on 16mm, she mounts every scene by slowly, surely feeding in key details. In other words: she has a gift for both horseplay and foreplay.
Eva (Simone Bucio) is tasked with sound designing a commercial for a dubious mood-stabilizing drug after sister,...
Using sci-fi to create a sexual allegory is a staple of body horror genre, just ask David Cronenberg. Now, let us introduce the body pleasure genre. No, not porn, but a character-driven drama in which personal and sexual growth synthesise in the name of erotic cinema.
Visual artist Ann Oren’s debut feature “Piaffe” fits this exact mold, following a meek introvert in Berlin who grows a horse’s tail and has a sexual awakening. Oren’s teasing style is the perfect route into the story. Shooting on 16mm, she mounts every scene by slowly, surely feeding in key details. In other words: she has a gift for both horseplay and foreplay.
Eva (Simone Bucio) is tasked with sound designing a commercial for a dubious mood-stabilizing drug after sister,...
- 8/12/2022
- by Sophie Monks Kaufman
- Indiewire
The first feature by Berlin-based visual artist and filmmaker Ann Oren, which is titled “Piaffe,” is launching on Aug. 11 from the Locarno Film Festival’s Piazza Grande.
Described by the director as “a love letter to the less recognized magicians of cinema and a playful celebration of otherness,” this German film is produced by Kristof Gerega, Sophie Ahrens and Fabian Altenried of Berlin-based Schuldenberg Films.
Beijing-based Rediance, as previously announced, has taken international sales.
“When her sibling Zara suffers a nervous breakdown, the introvert Eva is forced to take on Zara’s job as a foley artist. She struggles to create sounds for a commercial featuring a horse, and then a horsetail starts growing out of her body,” reads the synopsis.
“Empowered by her tail, she lures a botanist into an affair through a game of submission.”
“Piaffe” is further described as “a visceral journey into control, gender, and artifice.
Described by the director as “a love letter to the less recognized magicians of cinema and a playful celebration of otherness,” this German film is produced by Kristof Gerega, Sophie Ahrens and Fabian Altenried of Berlin-based Schuldenberg Films.
Beijing-based Rediance, as previously announced, has taken international sales.
“When her sibling Zara suffers a nervous breakdown, the introvert Eva is forced to take on Zara’s job as a foley artist. She struggles to create sounds for a commercial featuring a horse, and then a horsetail starts growing out of her body,” reads the synopsis.
“Empowered by her tail, she lures a botanist into an affair through a game of submission.”
“Piaffe” is further described as “a visceral journey into control, gender, and artifice.
- 8/10/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
German feature will world premiere at Locarno.
Chinese sales agent Rediance has acquired sales rights to Locarno international competition title Piaffe, the first feature by Berlin-based visual artist and filmmaker Ann Oren.
The German film, which will receive its world premiere at Locarno in August, is produced by Kristof Gerega, Sophie Ahrens and Fabian Altenried of Berlin-based Schuldenberg Films.
Shot on 16mm, the story follows an introvert foley artist who becomes empowered when a horsetail starts growing out of her body while working on a commercial featuring a horse. Written by Oren and Thais Guisasola, the cast includes Simone Bucio,...
Chinese sales agent Rediance has acquired sales rights to Locarno international competition title Piaffe, the first feature by Berlin-based visual artist and filmmaker Ann Oren.
The German film, which will receive its world premiere at Locarno in August, is produced by Kristof Gerega, Sophie Ahrens and Fabian Altenried of Berlin-based Schuldenberg Films.
Shot on 16mm, the story follows an introvert foley artist who becomes empowered when a horsetail starts growing out of her body while working on a commercial featuring a horse. Written by Oren and Thais Guisasola, the cast includes Simone Bucio,...
- 7/6/2022
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Acquittal
The Berlin International Film Festival has called for the acquittal of Zimbabwean author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga (“I Want a Wedding Dress”) who served on the international jury of the festival earlier this year. Dangarembga was arrested in July 2020 at a protest in Harare along with journalist Julie Barnes, where both were calling for the release of journalists and for institutional reforms.
They are being charged with inciting public violence, disturbing the peace and bigotry, and with violations of Covid regulations. The women have since been released on bail, but they have also been subpoenaed 26 times. In the trial, now taking place before the anti-corruption Court in Harare, a decision will be made whether to drop the case or seek a verdict.
“As an institution that stands up for freedom of speech and freedom of artistic expression worldwide, we ask the government of Zimbabwe to clear Tsitsi Dangarembga and Julie Barnes of all charges,...
The Berlin International Film Festival has called for the acquittal of Zimbabwean author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga (“I Want a Wedding Dress”) who served on the international jury of the festival earlier this year. Dangarembga was arrested in July 2020 at a protest in Harare along with journalist Julie Barnes, where both were calling for the release of journalists and for institutional reforms.
They are being charged with inciting public violence, disturbing the peace and bigotry, and with violations of Covid regulations. The women have since been released on bail, but they have also been subpoenaed 26 times. In the trial, now taking place before the anti-corruption Court in Harare, a decision will be made whether to drop the case or seek a verdict.
“As an institution that stands up for freedom of speech and freedom of artistic expression worldwide, we ask the government of Zimbabwe to clear Tsitsi Dangarembga and Julie Barnes of all charges,...
- 6/23/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
One of the enduring peculiarities about the so-called Berlin School of contemporary German filmmaking is that, among the various filmmakers who have been associated with the group, the work they produce exhibits great stylistic variety. What seems to unite them, apart from a few biographical particularities, is an intellectual orientation toward filmmaking, an attitude toward structure and representation that nevertheless yields vastly divergent results. For instance, Christophe Hochhäusler and Nicolas Wackerbarth have both been involved in the foundational film magazine Revolver, a publication that displays a specific orientation toward both German and international art cinema—a throughline that runs between the historical materialism of Harun Farocki and Romuald Karmakur and the somewhat more abstract lyricism of Apichatpong Weerasethakul. But a comparison of Hochhäusler and Wackerbarth’s films reveals radically different formal approaches.A Voluntary Year, the recent film collaboration between directors Ulrich Köhler and Henner Winckler, provides a unique case...
- 2/14/2020
- MUBI
A Voluntary YearAn easy bet to win is to wager that the first reel is any given movie is more interesting than its remaining minutes. This is because the field is open: the story frequently has yet to settle, the plot to develop, or the formal and aesthetic approach to be determined. The possibilities, for the audience, are seemingly endless: Where will this film go, what will it do, what shall I see and how shall I see it? As more minutes pass, the probabilities shrink, more things become less likely to happen; we begin to detect patterns, conventions, likelihoods. One sees boundaries around the imagination, and what can and can’t happen becomes palpable. Suddenly, without really being able to pinpoint when the transition occurs, something full of promise becomes a picture like any other—and possibly worse. Rarer are the films that through a kind of narrative permeability...
- 8/13/2019
- MUBI
In Ulrich Köhler’s 2018 film In My Room a man escapes–and thus finds catharsis–from his floundering, grown-up city life only after waking up to find that he, for all the movie’s intents and purposes, is the last man on earth. Köhler’s latest, titled A Voluntary Year and co-directed by fellow Berlin School alum Henner Winckler, takes a botched attempt at escape as its background but finds little of that same catharsis. It does, however, pick at the same nagging little wounds: the idea that people are, by nature, liable to break the further they bend to society’s expectations and the sanest option might be to jump ship and chill.
This has been the great theme of Köhler’s work as it has been of many of his contemporaries: we saw it in Grisebach’s Western in 2017 and Schanelec’s I Was at Home, But… earlier this year,...
This has been the great theme of Köhler’s work as it has been of many of his contemporaries: we saw it in Grisebach’s Western in 2017 and Schanelec’s I Was at Home, But… earlier this year,...
- 8/12/2019
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
This year’s Locarno Film Festival (Aug 7 -17) lineup includes Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Joseph Gordon-Levitt plane thriller 7500, which gets its world premiere at the Swiss showcase. Scroll down for major category lineups.
The 72nd edition of the festival marks the first for incoming artistic director Lili Hinstein who has taken over from Carlo Chatrian. As ever, there is a strong contingent of European and Asian arthouse movies and the Piazza Grande section includes a handful of titles with more mainstream appeal, such as Tarantino’s Cannes pic Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which rolls out globally in August.
Alongside Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, the open air Piazza Grande screenings will include the world premieres of German-produced hijack thriller-drama 7500, Carice Van Houten starrer Instinct, UK comedy actor Simon Bird’s directorial debut Days Of The Bagnold Summer, French director Stéphane Demoustier...
The 72nd edition of the festival marks the first for incoming artistic director Lili Hinstein who has taken over from Carlo Chatrian. As ever, there is a strong contingent of European and Asian arthouse movies and the Piazza Grande section includes a handful of titles with more mainstream appeal, such as Tarantino’s Cannes pic Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which rolls out globally in August.
Alongside Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, the open air Piazza Grande screenings will include the world premieres of German-produced hijack thriller-drama 7500, Carice Van Houten starrer Instinct, UK comedy actor Simon Bird’s directorial debut Days Of The Bagnold Summer, French director Stéphane Demoustier...
- 7/17/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from “Dark” Season 2, including the finale. If you haven’t watched yet, you can read the non-spoilery review.]
The second season of “Dark” ends with far more questions than answers, but for the love of all that is unholy, some of those answers are completely and utterly bananas. Which is to say, they’re everything a “Dark” fan could ask for.
In the series, the town of Winden has been experiencing mysterious child abductions that turn out to be linked to an epic battle between good and evil. Teenager Jonas Kahnwald (Louis Hofmann) is at the center of the melee and travels back and forth through time in an attempt to save Winden and everyone he loves from an impending nuclear holocaust. As more and more Winden residents begin to also hop around through time, they’re shocked to learn just how connected they all are.
And yes, this is even crazier than Season 1’s shocker that the boy Mikkel (Daan Lennard Liebrenz), who goes missing in 2019, actually...
The second season of “Dark” ends with far more questions than answers, but for the love of all that is unholy, some of those answers are completely and utterly bananas. Which is to say, they’re everything a “Dark” fan could ask for.
In the series, the town of Winden has been experiencing mysterious child abductions that turn out to be linked to an epic battle between good and evil. Teenager Jonas Kahnwald (Louis Hofmann) is at the center of the melee and travels back and forth through time in an attempt to save Winden and everyone he loves from an impending nuclear holocaust. As more and more Winden residents begin to also hop around through time, they’re shocked to learn just how connected they all are.
And yes, this is even crazier than Season 1’s shocker that the boy Mikkel (Daan Lennard Liebrenz), who goes missing in 2019, actually...
- 6/23/2019
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
Pelican Blood (Pelikanblut)
Personal sacrifice is again the central theme in the sophomore film from Germany’s Katrin Gebbe, who nabs Nina Hoss as the lead in Pelican Blood. Joining Gebbe again is producer Verena Graft-Hoft of Junafilm, working in conjunction with Bulgaria’s Mila Voinikova of Miramar Film and Swr/Arte. Joining Hoss in the cast of this dark family drama are Murathan Muslu, Sophie Pfenningstorf, Justine Hirschfeld, Yana Marinova, Dimitar Banenkin, Sebastian Rudolph, Katerina Lipovska and Adelia-Constance Giovanni Ocleppo. Lensing the film is Dp Moritz Schultheiß. Gebbe’s incredibly divisive debut, Nothing Bad Can Happen (read review), which concerned martyrdom and religious fanaticism in modern day Hamburg, premiered in Un Certain Regard at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.…...
Personal sacrifice is again the central theme in the sophomore film from Germany’s Katrin Gebbe, who nabs Nina Hoss as the lead in Pelican Blood. Joining Gebbe again is producer Verena Graft-Hoft of Junafilm, working in conjunction with Bulgaria’s Mila Voinikova of Miramar Film and Swr/Arte. Joining Hoss in the cast of this dark family drama are Murathan Muslu, Sophie Pfenningstorf, Justine Hirschfeld, Yana Marinova, Dimitar Banenkin, Sebastian Rudolph, Katerina Lipovska and Adelia-Constance Giovanni Ocleppo. Lensing the film is Dp Moritz Schultheiß. Gebbe’s incredibly divisive debut, Nothing Bad Can Happen (read review), which concerned martyrdom and religious fanaticism in modern day Hamburg, premiered in Un Certain Regard at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.…...
- 1/4/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Jan. 8, 2013
Price: DVD $24.99, Blu-ray $29.99
Studio: Hen’s Tooth
The 1993 German war drama film Stalingrad directed by Joseph Vilsmaier follows a platoon of World War II German Army soldiers transferred to Russia, where they ultimately find themselves plunged into the infamous Battle of Stalingrad.
In the spring of 1942, German troops advanced deep into the Soviet Union en route to Stalingrad. Hitler seriously misjudged the tenacity of the Red Army and was convinced that the city could be conquered before winter. Ordinary foot soldiers, inadequately clothed and without sufficient food, struggled just to stay alive. Abandoned by their leaders, Nazi troops froze and starved to death in a conflict that left over one million dead. Stalingrad graphically depicts this turning point in WWII in which the average German soldier was as much a victim of Nazi evil as the Soviet people.
One of the most respected movies ever produced about the Stalingrad battle,...
Price: DVD $24.99, Blu-ray $29.99
Studio: Hen’s Tooth
The 1993 German war drama film Stalingrad directed by Joseph Vilsmaier follows a platoon of World War II German Army soldiers transferred to Russia, where they ultimately find themselves plunged into the infamous Battle of Stalingrad.
In the spring of 1942, German troops advanced deep into the Soviet Union en route to Stalingrad. Hitler seriously misjudged the tenacity of the Red Army and was convinced that the city could be conquered before winter. Ordinary foot soldiers, inadequately clothed and without sufficient food, struggled just to stay alive. Abandoned by their leaders, Nazi troops froze and starved to death in a conflict that left over one million dead. Stalingrad graphically depicts this turning point in WWII in which the average German soldier was as much a victim of Nazi evil as the Soviet people.
One of the most respected movies ever produced about the Stalingrad battle,...
- 11/5/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
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