Sonnabend, 17 Uhr

Ula Stöckl presents a portrait of Munich female high school graduates discussing what they do at 5 pm of a Saturday. Stöckl made the film, which constitutes the self-portrait of an entire generation of women, during her studies at the Ulm School of Design. “Fingertips tug uncertainly at table cloths while mouths distorted to mask-like camera-smiles deliver up hackneyed phrases. The mention of the word ‘rendezvous’ is accompanied by embarrassed falsetto laughter. The seating arrangement around a coffee table replicates the unchallenged power hierarchy in the West German family, throwing a spotlight on the origins of the feminine sense of inferiority. The film transcends here its assigned topic, finding its strength in identifying and rendering visible concealed social structures. The images run counter to the sound, the camera looking for fissures to penetrate below the smooth surface.” (Daniela Sannwald)