Short Films for World AIDS Day

Original title: Pier 34/Beat goes on/Heart Murmurs/ Congratulations Dx!/ Kiss of Life/Valery Alexanderplatz

82 Min. | 1983-2023

Language: OmeU, OV | Original language: Englisch

Director: V.A.

40 Years of HIV – Breakthroughs and Barriers: What’s Next?

Charité and Xposed Present: Short Films for World AIDS Day – A Fundraiser for TransSexworks

Join us for a special event featuring five short films curated by Xposed, showcasing diverse experiences and journeys related to HIV over the past four decades. HIV scientist Christian Gaebler from Charité will share insights into current research findings and the ongoing challenges in the field. Representatives from TransSexworks and Deutsche Aidshilfe will also provide valuable perspectives on their work.

After the event, you’re welcome to stay in the foyer for a chat and ask any questions.

All ticket sales will be donated to TransSexworks to support their mission. If you’d like to contribute further or are unable to attend, you can make a donation here.

*The event is in English

About TransSexworks

TransSexworks is a peer support network based in Berlin, created by and for trans*, inter*, and non-binary sex workers. The organization provides mobile support, distributing safer sex and safer use supplies directly to sex workers. In addition to outreach, TransSexworks organizes regular meetings and offers a safe, supportive space for community connection and advocacy. Their work focuses on empowering individuals while promoting health, safety, and solidarity.

 

1) Pier 34, Marion Scemama, USA/France, 1983-2023, 9min

In 1983 I made a 16mm black and white film at Pier 34 in New York.

At the time it was an abandoned port warehouse, left to the elements and anonymous homosexual encounters.

Located on the banks of the Hudson River, at the foot of the World Trade Center and the financial district, this incongruous place exuded transgression, desire and danger.

In the spring of that year, two artists, David Wojnarowicz and Mike Bidlo, occupied the site and issued a manifesto calling on all young artists living in the decaying East Village and Lower East Side to squat in the warehouse and transform it into a vast creative space, an ephemeral museum.

Demolished by city officials shortly thereafter, these images remain the only filmed testimony to the pier, which over the years became emblematic of the vibrant underground art scene that exploded in the early ’80s.

The last space of freedom before the AIDS years.

2) Beat goes on, Shanti Avirgan, USA, 2019, 9min

Beat Goes On is an all-archival, impressionistic portrait of the harm reduction and housing activist Keith Cylar (1958–2004), co-founder of Housing Works and a central figure in the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT UP) NY. A fellow activist recalls that “Keith moved from mixing with the government, to threatening the government, to beating the government—all in the space of five minutes.” By resurfacing and weaving together archival media of Cylar’s own words and actions, this short video distills some of the personal charisma, political savvy and fearlessness that characterized Cylar’s advocacy.

 

3) Heart Murmurs, UK, 2023, 9min

Heart Murmurs is a poetic dialogue between the filmmaker and Dean, a young man living in Hong Kong. In reflecting on his experience living with a congenital disability and HIV during the first years of the COVID pandemic, the film questions the boundary of care and control in relationships.

 

4) Congratulations Dx!, Mark Felix Ebreo, Philippines, 2023, 20min   

After receiving an undetectable HIV status, Dexter finally shows up in his friends’ party and reconnects with them, following a long and sudden ghosting in their milestones and lives.

 

5) Kiss of Life, Clifford Prince King, USA, 2022, 7min

In Kiss of Life, two Black people living with HIV reflect on their experiences with the virus. Raw conversations surrounding disclosure, rejection and self love are expressed through visual poetry and dreamscapes.

 

6) Valery Alexanderplatz, Germany/Italy, 28min, 2023

Italian with English subtitles

Valery Alexanderplatz is an experimental short movie filmed around Berlin Mitte and the famous Alexanderplatz about the life of Italian trans-activist Valérie Taccarelli. This story starts with Milva, the popular italian diva and her most known song “Alexanderplatz”. Just a few know though that this song is in reality an adaptation of Alfredo Cohen’s song “Valery”, released in 1978. “Valery” was a 15 years old trans teenager, now known as Valérie Taccarelli.