Club Des Femmes

Su Friedrich

“Provocative, entertaining, and intriguing”. - Variety

Last week, I went to see a Su Friedrich programme at the Arsenal in Berlin. They screened three of her shorts, Rules of the Road (1993), The Head of A Pin (2004) and Seeing Red (2005). Su Friedrich was at the screening to introduce her films which was great - for although her films are intensely personal, she never puts herself in front of the camera. She is as you expect – a very funny, drole New Yorker with a mass a curly grey hair.

One of her most recent shorts Seeing Red (2005) concerning the onset of middle-age, the colour red and a melody is screening at the London Film Festival on Saturday 27th October in a short film programme called The ‘I’ and the ‘We’. This is definitely worth checking out. Friedrich has directed and produced over eighteen 16mm film and videos; she is a leading figure in independent lesbian/feminist experimental filmmaking. Although most of her work has been shot on film and in black and white, her somewhat (reluctant) move into video and colour has been a very interesting transition. She spoke about the way she was now able to record time and use colour where previously this was not an option.

“Whenever I set out to make a film, my primary motive is to create an emotionally charged, or resonant, experience – to work with stories from my own life that I feel the need to examine closely, and that I think are shared by many people” Su Friedrich

Outcast Films have recently put out 5 compilation DVDs of her work.

Alternatively you can wait and see her work playing at Club des Femmes in the not too distant future!

More soon

Selina