Strictly speaking there are no radical love films. A love film is a genre film i.e. it is programmed according to certain patterns of plot and scenery such as boy meets girl, first glances, scenes of doubt, and - depending on what kind of ending is aimed at - a kiss against the setting sun or the embrace of a dying person. Radical would be a different story: two people find each other likeable, but after ten years' of marriage they love each other. Such a film doesn't exist – or if it does it would be the exception.

If we had to name a root (=radical) of love, we would first of all have to mention the mother/child relationship. Biologists think of it as the core of humanity. Love is not an exclusive experience between grown-ups of same/different genders: After all you can love anybody or anything – your partner, your work, your city. Generally speaking, love is dedication. Or, more precisely – with Luhmann: Love is a notion for giving yourself of what you expect from  the other person. The 13 films in this programme approach an impossible genre. They are radical inasmuch as they take their subject seriously as a audiovisual  formulation of terms – even if they are comedies.

Winfried Pauleit and Rainer Stollman | Universität Bremen

Venue: CITY 46

Series runs from October 17, 2017 till January 30, 2018 * All films with introduction and discussion!