Radical media, politics and culture.

Film Tells the Story of Artists' Efforts to Rescue Cabaret Voltaire

Anonymous Comrade writes:

The documentary video “Dada Changed My Life” will play Anthology Film Archives on Monday, April 19th, 2004, at 7:30 p.m. The screening will be preceded by performances by Dada New York, and music by Rosateresa and Los Polones. (Anthology is at 32 Second Avenue in Manhattan, corner of East 2nd St.)

“Dada Changed My Life” is a documentary about the occupation of the building which housed the Cabaret Voltaire, birthplace of Dada in Zürich, Switzerland, 1916. This work details the two-month international effort by artists to rescue the Cabaret Voltaire which generated the most influential movement in contemporary art, 86 years after its founding, from transformation into luxury apartments and a pharmacy.

The film was shot in six different languages. An introduction recites the history of Dada, then presents the performances and events which took place in the Cabaret Voltaire during the two months in which the artists occupied the house. This account of an “art squat” is mixed in with fake interviews on Dada themes and the story of the Cabaret Voltaire. The idea came in part from the Foundation Kroesus as a tribute to Dada: the perfect pretext for making fun of art, sex, religion, politics and society.

The tape was created by co-directors Olga Mazurkiewicz (USA), Daniel Martínez (Spain), and Lou Lou (Switzerland), and all the artists who participated in the effort to save this historic house (between February and April of last year) – painters, photographers, sculptors, performance artists, theater troupes, poets, musicians, and lecturers.

"Dada Changed My Life" was censored from a festival in Spain (the IVAM in Valencia). This censorship action was criticized at the 2nd Valencia Biennial. A a prologue performance by the Equipo Vórtice called for the resignation of several politicians and Spanish television directors.

In 2003 the film won Best Documentary at the DV Awards in Utah, and Honorable Mention at the FOC Cinema in Castellón, Spain. It has been selected for the Raindance Film Festival in London, UK and five festivals in Spain: Festivalito International Digital Cine Festival of La Palma, Canary Islands; the Carmona Film Fest in Sevilla; Visual 03 in Madrid; Cádiz.doc in Cádiz and Eurovideo in Málaga.

For more information contact: dadachangedmylife@hotmail.com,
daniel@opusnomedia.com, or call USA: 917 664 1258.