Achim von Paczensky

The movie version of Christoph Schlingensief's stageplay.

As stated in the opening titles and at the end Freakstars 3000 is supposed to be a commentary on the problems of the non-disabled people. The more I was shocked about how the disabled were depicted in this film the more I started to realize that in every non-disabled TV counterpart of this show (German TV shows like "Popstars" or "Friedmann" or the home shopping channels) its mentally "non-handicapped" participants are treated in a completely identical way: The total prostitution of the mind in front a huge TV audience at the expense of one's most important gifts one should hang on to: dignity. On the other hand one could completely understand people who are furious about "exploiting" these handicapped persons. But that's what Schlingensief's works are all about: shock people and don't care about those who cannot or will not try to get the message (if there is one).

An eccentric homage to the Rainer Werner Fassbinder days of German filmmaking.

Fremdverstümmelung

Documentation about Christoph Schlingensief's legendary election campaign. With his theater and art actions, as a filmmaker and opera director, Christoph Schlingensief (1960–2010) shaped cultural and political discourse in Germany over two decades. The party “Chance 2000” was Schlingensief's biggest, most public project up to that point. For the 1998 general election Schlingensief organized an “election campaign circus“ in Berlin and founded the party Chance2000. This is an ecstatic piece of political education and a tale of a party’s life and survival.

Using unpublished and newly digitalised archive footage and film material, Bettina Böhler has brilliantly assembled this film about the life and work of the exceptional artist Christoph Schlingensief, who died in 2010.

Feature documentary about Christoph Schlingensief's political party/art project "Chance 2000".