Play with Johnny
The film “Johnny & Me”, which tells the life of the famous graphic artist John Heartfield, had its premiere last summer at the Animated Film Festival in Annecy. It is one of the most important festivals for animated films in the world. Caroline Hamann41, considers it an honor that the film is directed by Katrin Rothe was shown there for the first time. The Munich animator and illustrator worked on the storyboard for two years. She visualized the script scene by scene, determined the camera angles and cuts. Hamann was responsible for the animated film sequences. The full-length film is currently touring through Germany and will also be shown on Arte.
On a large screen, however, the details of the lovingly and very elaborately animated cardboard figure that represents John Heartfield are much easier to see. She is about 30 centimeters tall, but has expressive facial expressions. Heartfield (1891-1968) is a role model for many artists who work with collage. Bert Brecht considered him one of the most important European artists of all. George Grosz and Kurt Tucholsky were among his friends. Because of his commitment to communist ideas and against the war, he had to flee from the Nazis. In 1950 he found a new home in the GDR, but also experienced repression there. The film links his life story with the situation of the graphic designer Stefanie (played by Stephanie Stremler), who is in a creative crisis. “Johnny & me” will be shown on Saturday, February 10th, 3 p.m. and Sunday, February 11th, 5:30 p.m., in the workshop cinema on Fraunhoferstrasse.
Without a plan with humor
Jakob Schreier and Chiara Grabmayr.
(Photo: Johannes Brugger)
The filmmaker Jacob Schreier was together with Chiara Grabmayr was awarded the Blue Panther Young Talent Award 2023 for the second season of the ZDF series “Fett und Fett”. Like the first season, it was already nominated for the Grimme Prize. The series, with a lot of humor, is about somewhat haphazard 30-year-olds in Munich. Despite its success, a third season is currently not planned. Grabmayr, 35, is working as a director of a comedy series, and Schreier, 37, is currently trying to sell two new ideas: “Crime comedy and a reinvention of the doctor series.”
Kafka with curator
Helena Pereña, curator at the Villa Stuck Museum.
(Photo: Barbara Donaubauer)
Oppressive, disturbing, surprising and amusing – the Kafka exhibition in the Villa Stuck Museum stirs up visitors. And proves how incredibly current his work is. Curator Helena Perena succeeded in collecting contemporary works of art on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka’s (1883-1924) death, all of which refer to Kafka’s world of thought. Everyone probably knows “The Metamorphosis”: In the novel, Gregor Samsa wakes up one day and finds that he has mutated into a beetle. His family reacts mercilessly and locks him up, and the disaster takes its course. Kafka also brilliantly describes claustrophobia, shame and being at the mercy of dark forces in other stories such as “The Castle” or “The Trial”. “Kafkaesque” became a household word.
The exhibition is grouped thematically. There is a creepy torture device, body images raise questions of identity, and an installation refers to domestic violence. Pereña, 42, comes from Madrid and received his doctorate in Munich. She has been a curator at Villa Stuck since 2020. She also discovered connections to Munich. One reads that after a reading on Brienner Strasse in 1916, the press declared Kafka a “lecher of horror.” And listen with dismay to Franz Wanner’s film, which revealed that the Federal Intelligence Service maintained a secret office next to the museum for 50 years, among other things to interview refugees there. One look out the window and you are right in the middle of the present. On Wednesday, February 7th, at 4:30 p.m., the curator will guide you through the exhibition, which runs until February 11th.
Success with Cloud
Prabhakar Mishra and Tobias Lieberum are working on software that will help companies secure data and manage it in cloud solutions in a way that is understandable for users. The two have founded a start-up with which they want to advance their ideas. Their declared goal: to become a European champion in this area. According to the young scientists, the market is currently mainly dominated by the USA.
Prabhakar Mishra studied computer science in India and then worked for large banks. Tobias Lieberum studied business administration and, after working as a management consultant, received his doctorate at the TUM School of Management. “The analysis methods that I developed for my doctoral thesis also work very well in the area of data security,” explains Lieberum in a TUM press release. Together with an international team, the two of them managed to develop a stable beta version of their software and now bring it onto the market.
Woman with concerns
Mayor Verena Dietl presents Corina Toledo with the “Munich Shines” medal.
(Photo: Michael Nagy/City of Munich)
Equality, democratic participation, anti-racism, anti-discrimination, diversity and empowerment of marginalized groups Corina Toledo a big concern. She has now been awarded the “Munich Shines” medal for her voluntary work. Toledo grew up in Chile and came to Munich to study politics. Since 2014, she has made a lot of difference in the cultural scene here with her initiative “frau-kunst-politik”, which became an association in 2021. Toledo is also co-founder of the women’s organization “OneBillingRising Munich”, which raises awareness through projects in public spaces.