We are pleased to announce that ‘Zero Killed’ has been officially selected for the Fright Night Film Festival in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
Fright Night Film Festival is Mid-Americas largest Genre POP/HORROR/CULTURE Film Festival.
Mission: Bring the Best in Pop Culture, Cult Films, Independent Films to the Region. We launch films and careers. To network with industry veterans and bring Hollywood to the rest of the country.

DATE

June 29th - July 1st, 2012

LOCATION

The Galt House Hotel and Convention Center
140 North Fourth Street
Louisville, KY 40202
USA

ABOUT

ZERO KILLED

ZERO KILLED delves into the minds of a group of seemingly average people who agreed to participate in video dramatizations of their darkest desires to murder another human being. Kosakowki’s documentary revisits the horror through interviews with these would-be killers and clips of the dramatizations made more than 10 years prior. ZERO KILLED explores how violence is depicted both on camera and in our minds. In German with English subtitles.

LINKS

Zero Killed Website
Fright Night Film Festival

‘Zero Killed’ has been officially selected for the 19th Chicago Underground Film Festival: The Festival is the longest running underground film festival in the world, CUFF exists to showcase the defiantly independent filmmaker. The mission is to promote films and videos that dissent radically in form, technique, or content from the “indie” mainstream.

DATE

June 3rd, 2012 - 1pm
June 6th, 2012 - 8pm

LOCATION

Gene Siskel Film Center
164 North State Street
Chicago, IL 60601
USA

ABOUT

ZERO KILLED

ZERO KILLED delves into the minds of a group of seemingly average people who agreed to participate in video dramatizations of their darkest desires to murder another human being. Kosakowki’s documentary revisits the horror through interviews with these would-be killers and clips of the dramatizations made more than 10 years prior. ZERO KILLED explores how violence is depicted both on camera and in our minds. In German with English subtitles.

LINKS

Zero Killed Website
Chicago Underground Film Festival
Gene Siskel Film Center

All photos © copyright by Erich Malter

OPENING

March 30, 2012
Exhibition: March 31 - June 17, 2012

LOCATION

Kunstpalais Stadt Erlangen
Palais Stutterheim
Marktplatz 1
91054 Erlangen
Germany

EXHIBITION

with Michal Kosakowski, Jenny Holzer, Taryn Simon, Bjorn Melhus, Anri Sala, Yves Netzhammer, Kitty Kraus, Parastou Forouhar, Milica Tomic, Eva & Franco Mattes, Simon Menner

DO YOU HAVE MURDER FANTASIES?

Michal Kosakowski‘s work as a film-maker and artist is characterised by a preoccupation with media-related depictions of violence.

The Installation ‘Do You Have Murder Fantasies?’ is positioned in the wide and uncharted territories between fantasy and reality, and opens up both fronts simultaneously for its visitors:

A split-screen projection displays 49 short films. From 1996 onward, Michal Kosakowski interrogated people with widely different backgrounds about their murder fantasies and proposed to turn them into short films. His one condition was that the interviewees had to act out their respective fantasies themselves. More than a decade later, Kosakowski reunited with the participants and asked them the following questions, which are displayed on the installation’s 10 flat screens:

- Do you have murder fantasies?
- If someone murdered a person you love, how would you feel about it?
- Should torture be legalized?
- How would you define good and evil?
- Are soldiers murderers?
- Do you believe in God?
- Are you for or against the death penalty?
- What causes rampages?
- How do you see the relation between media and violence?
- What are the causes for violence?

The question ‘Do You Have Murder Fantasies?’ has been central to Michal Kosakowski’s artistic output since 1996:
Back in 1997 he successfully applied at Oliviero Toscani‘s Fabrica with a first concept for the ‘Fortynine’ project, which was eventually brought to fruition in 2007 in the context of the ‘Ortstermine’ projects presented by Lothringer 13 Städtische Kunsthalle München and in which a 5 ton walk-in mirror cube confronted visitors with murder fantasies, reflected in infinity.

A decade later, the idea of realising a trailer for the 49 short films led to a reunion with his former collaborators who were subjected to the above-mentioned interviews. What had piqued Kosakowski’s interest was the way in which his performers would deal with real violence as juxtaposed with their own previous murder fantasies. The participants‘ astonishing openness in the 50 hours of material filmed was impressive and contradictory enough to inspire Michal Kosakowski to turn them, combined with the 49 short movies, into his first feature film, ZERO KILLED.

LINKS

Kunstpalais Erlangen
Kunstpalais Erlangen Blog
Begleitprogramm PDF

KILLING
Michal Kosakowski, Jenny Holzer, Taryn Simon, Bjorn Melhus, Anri Sala, Yves Netzhammer, Kitty Kraus, Parastou Forouhar, Milica Tomic, Eva & Franco Mattes, Simon Menner

DATE

March 31st - June 17th, 2012
Opening / March 30th, 7pm

LOCATION

Kunstpalais
Stadt Erlangen
Palais Stutterheim
Marktplatz 1
91054 Erlangen
Germany

WORK

MICHAL KOSAKOWSKI
DO YOU HAVE MURDER FANTASIES?

Michal Kosakowski‘s work as a film-maker and artist is characterised by a preoccupation with media-related depictions of violence.

The Installation ‘Do You Have Murder Fantasies?’ is positioned in the wide and uncharted territories between fantasy and reality, and opens up both fronts simultaneously for its visitors:

A split-screen projection displays 49 short films. From 1996 onward, Michal Kosakowski interrogated people with widely different backgrounds about their murder fantasies and proposed to turn them into short films. His one condition was that the interviewees had to act out their respective fantasies themselves. More than a decade later, Kosakowski reunited with the participants and asked them the following questions, which are displayed on the installation’s 10 flat screens:

- Do you have murder fantasies?
- If someone murdered a person you love, how would you feel about it?
- Should torture be legalized?
- How would you define good and evil?
- Are soldiers murderers?
- Do you believe in God?
- Are you for or against the death penalty?
- What causes rampages?
- How do you see the relation between media and violence?
- What are the causes for violence?

The question ‘Do You Have Murder Fantasies?’ has been central to Michal Kosakowski’s artistic output since 1996:
Back in 1997 he successfully applied at Oliviero Toscani‘s Fabrica with a first concept for the ‘Fortynine’ project, which was eventually brought to fruition in 2007 in the context of the ‘Ortstermine’ projects presented by Lothringer 13 Städtische Kunsthalle München and in which a 5 ton walk-in mirror cube confronted visitors with murder fantasies, reflected in infinity.

A decade later, the idea of realising a trailer for the 49 short films led to a reunion with his former collaborators who were subjected to the above-mentioned interviews. What had piqued Kosakowski’s interest was the way in which his performers would deal with real violence as juxtaposed with their own previous murder fantasies. The participants‘ astonishing openness in the 50 hours of material filmed was impressive and contradictory enough to inspire Michal Kosakowski to turn them, combined with the 49 short movies, into his first feature film, ZERO KILLED.

ZERO KILLED World Premiere: Transilvania International Film Festival – June 1-10, 2012
ZERO KILLED U.S. Premiere: Chicago Underground Film Festival - May 31 - June 7, 2012

LINKS

Kunstpalais Erlangen
Kunstpalais Erlangen Blog
Begleitprogramm PDF

We are proud to announce the world premiere of our film ‘Zero Killed‘:

TIFF - 11th Transilvania International Film Festival
Official Selection / No Limit

June 1-10, 2012

in Cluj-Napoca, Romania

The exact screening dates will be announced soon.

We would like to thank to all our great team and the numerous participants who helped us to become the film reality.
We hope that the film will have a great start at this young and fantastic festival and will continue its theatrical presentation all over the world.

We will also keep you updated about theatrical releases near you!

LINKS

Transilvania International Film Festival
Zero Killed Website
Zero Killed Facebook
Zero Killed Youtube

14. Clair-Obscur Filmfestival
Films. Performances. Iconic Turn.

International movies of all genres, all lenghts, all kind of performances and full of surprises. A platform for the friends of the cinema, the cineasts and the users of the moving pictures. A dark horse for the eyes and many seductive musical curiosities for the ears. And that each and every year. When you leave the festival you not only do that in good cheer, but also full of plans of capturing your nightmares on celluloid. The festival is second to none in Switzerland and has no competitors to speak of. The dedication of the organisers born 2,000 years ago, but still young at heart is undisputedly independent, selfless and ensures artistic freedom and accepts no compromise. And they always accomplish that the audience scrutinises what is being offered, which is a far cry from the usual commercial entertainment fare of TV and the movies. Whether shown in the bunker, at the printer’s or in the safe, it’s always big cinema. We continue to follow …

FILM 1

SLEEPERS
Austria 2002, 3 min, Experimental
Children operate and marvel at the arsenal of the Austrian Army during National Holiday in Vienna.

FILM 2

JUST LIKE THE MOVIES
Austria 2006, 21 min, Experimental
“It’s just like the movies!” was usually the first reaction of those watching the events of 9/11 in New York unfolding on their TV screens, no doubt recalling the endless number of catastrophes that Hollywood has proposed over the years. Now confronted with the reality of one such scenario – of unprecedented destructive and symbolic resonance - a feeling of déjà vu arises while looking at these images.

FILM 3

HOLY WAR
Italy 1999, 42 min, Documentary
The slogan „Holy War“ returns to cosmopolitan cities and brings with it, an entirely postmodern twist. The film opens with the sawing of a huge fir tree which escalates into a chainsaw massacre of thundering machinery. While witnessing the consumption mania of pre-Christmas preparations, we are ironically reminded of the mobilisation of forces at war.

SCREENINGS

SLEEPERS / Nov. 11, 2011 / 8pm
JUST LIKE THE MOVIES / Nov. 11, 2011 / 8.50pm
HOLY WAR / Nov 12, 2011 / 6pm

LOCATION

H95 - Raum für Kultur
Horburgstrasse 95
CH-4057 Basel
Switzerland

LINKS

Clair-Obscur Filmfestival

People talk about their murder fantasies and live them in short films. 10 years later they are once again interviewed; the clips and interviews are combined to create a film. Director Michal Kosakowski, post production sound supervisor Olaf Mierau, sound designer Tatjana Jakob and composer Paolo Marzocchi will talk about their work between the extremes, mere ‘making-it-bearable’ and dealing with the yawning chasms of one’s own soul. Moderation: Vasco Hexel.

DATE

Nov 5, 2011, 11am-1pm

LOCATION

Kölnischer Kunstverein Theatersaal

LINKS

Zero Killed - official website
SoundTrack_Cologne 8.0
Paolo Marzocchi
Tatjana Jakob
Olaf Mierau

FILM

DEEP WATER HORIZON
Short Film/Experimental, Germany 2010, 9 min, DV

“Truth may be stretched,
but cannot be broken,
and always gets above falsehood,
as does oil above water.”
Miguel De Cervantes, 1581
The cloud formations recall drifting oil films, seeping oil leaks in deep waters. The catastrophe caused by the eponymous oil rig’s collapse in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 was built up into a global disaster by the media. The news mercilessly exposes the contrast between unmanageable ecologic damage and weeks of helplessness caused by the failure of human technology to contain the disaster.

CREDITS

Written, directed & produced by Michal Kosakowski
Music composed by Paolo Marzocchi
Music performed by Atem Sax Quartet
Soprano Sax by David Brutti
Alto Sax by Matteo Villa
Tenor Sax by Davide Bartelucci
Baritone Sax by Massimo Valentini
Time-lapse images shot & edited by Michal Kosakowski
Title design by Rafal Kosakowski
Research by Goran Mimica

DATE

October 4th, 2011, 10.30pm

LOCATION

Werkstattkino
Frauenhoferstrasse 9
80469 München
Germany

ABOUT

UNDERDOX - dokument und experiment has been founded 2006 in Munich as an international festival for experimental and artistic film. The programme focuses on documentaries that distinguish themselves through their extraordinary artistic quality. UNDERDOX also shows feature films with a more documental narritive style. Furthermore, it presents entertaining Mockumentaries that reinvent reality in seemingly authentic documentaries. UNDERDOX disregards any genre limits and adds a new and youthful festival to Munich’s existing festival landscape. It positions itself next to the International Dokumentarfilmfest München “Dok.Fest” and the International Munich “Filmfest” as a film event featuring artistically ambitious productions.
The films are being selected at major international festivals as Rotterdam, Berlin, Marseille, Vienna, Pesaro und Bruxelles. UNDERDOX shows these films as Germany or Munich premieres.
UNDERDOX also presents the region’s upcoming artists. In a separate section of the programme we show videos of artists from Munich and its environs for the first time on a cinema screen. Subsequent to the projection the artists discuss their works with the audience. UNDERDOX creates in this an opportunity for the intellectual exchange on temporary art.

LINKS

Underdox Film Festival

WEBSITE
TRAILER / YOUTUBE
TRAILER / VIMEO
TRAILER / FACEBOOK

SYNOPSIS

Since 1996 film director Michal Kosakowski has been asking people with different backgrounds about their murder fantasies. He offered them the chance to stage their fantasies as short films. The only condition was that they had to act in these films themselves, either as victims or perpetrators. More than a decade later, Kosakowski met these people again to ask them about their emotions during their acts of murder or victimization, and interviewed them about current social topics such as revenge, torture, war, terrorism, media, domestic violence, the death penalty, suicide etc.

If someone murdered a person you love, how would you feel about it? Should torture be legalized? Are soldiers murderers? How to define good and evil? Their replies are juxtaposed with the short films based on these “non-criminal” fantasies made accessible to viewers. Simultaneously, the participants’ respective replies help viewers to get better acquainted with them and their highly diverse social and professional backgrounds. It is the banality of their acts that frightens us so badly, their stabbing of innocent people, their orgiastic throttling of marriage partners or their random shooting of unsuspecting visitors to exhibitions.

Zero Killed takes the issue one step further: the film deciphers common clichés and patterns of visual violence with the aid of the protagonists’ immediate and direct comments.

The result is an unconventional hybrid of feature film and documentary that makes viewers question their personal and social positions concerning ethical and moral values and taboos.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Murder fantasies are lonely affairs. It is a fact that people have the capacity to imagine both what they desire and what they fear. Surely everyone has encountered situations where aggressions had accumulated to such an extent that scenarios of murder and mayhem seemed the only adequate option – if only in theory. In most cases these fantasies remain suppressed and most people would feel ashamed to share them with others, no doubt because they fear unpleasant situations might arise by challenging the cultural constructs and conventions that determine our everyday life.

And then, there is the banality of murder fantasies; the more banal something is, the greater the taboo it is put under in and by society. While coitus ideally may allow partners to share pleasurable emotions, sheer protectiveness would make them reluctant to share murder fantasies with the same willingness.

ZERO KILLED is my response to the continuous flood of uncommented depiction of violence in and by the media which daily undermines and erodes our capacity for empathy.

FESTIVALS

Transilvania International Film Festival (World Premiere)
Chicago Underground Film Festival (U.S. Premiere)
Fright Night Film Festival Louisville, Kentucky, USA

INTERVIEW

Read the latest interview (in German) with the filmmaker Michal Kosakowski on his new feature/documentary film ZERO KILLED. Published in the movie magazine SPLATTING IMAGE / Number 85 / March 2011.

Read Interview

DOWNLOAD

Zero Killed Poster
Zero Killed Flyer

EXHIBITION

NKVextra
Michal Kosakowski / Just Like The Movies

DATE

September 11th to October 23rd, 2011
Opening / September 10th, 5 to 8 pm

Using pictures from 52 different Hollywood films the Polish film producer Michal Kosakowski attempts to reconstruct the events of 9/11 in a 21-minute montage.

The topic and concept of  JUST LIKE THE MOVIES is a déjà vu experience. The pictures, spreading around the world after September 11th, seemed, because of the tangible scenarios, unreal and one was reminded of sequences from Hollywood disaster films. Since the beginning of film history American film studios have produced apocalyptic films. With the attacks on the World Trade Center the same pictures returned as shattering reality.

Kosakowski analyzed more than 600 Hollywood films produced before 2001. He used classics like “2001 - A space Odyssey” or “Taxi Driver” but also comics, action films and science fiction blockbusters.
With this material he constructed the day of disaster. Beginning with dawn over Manhattan he selected cut outs, humorously illuminating the American everyday life from the morning exercise to the office. From here the dramaturgy of the events increases up to the actual disaster. The déjà vu experience of 9/11 is reversed: the pictures of airplanes approaching New York’s skyline, worried passers-by looking up and falling bodies awaken memories of the event.

September 11th 2001 revealed how close reality and fiction are in the contemporary media reception. Based on this phenomenon JUST LIKE THE MOVIES provokes a reversal effect: A real event is described with fictional images. Like this it becomes obvious that the events of the 11 of September 2001 exceed the framework of our perception and mindset. Neither the pictures, supplied by the media, nor our own imagination are sufficient, to understand the actual dimension of destruction.

Music composed by Paolo Marzocchi for solo piano with electroacoustic sounds intensifies the irritating effect. To interlink the heterogeneous pictures of JUST LIKE THE MOVIES and at the same time to produce a “Hollywood Feeling”, he modelled the Ragtime music of the early 20 century. The bare sound of the piano contrasts the pictures of the destruction and intensifies the disastrous atmosphere of the video.

LOCATION

Nassauischer Kunstverein e.v.
Wilhelmstrasse 15
65185 Wiesbaden
Germany

LINKS

Nassauischer Kunstverein e.v.