Sun, Jul 20, 2025, 21:15–23:30

Open-Air Film Screening: Manifesto + Making Manifesto

As part of the Open House – C/O Berlin Birthday Special
Manifesto, 2015 © Julian Rosefeldt, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2025

With Mobile Kino

Admission free 
Registration closed, limited spots may be available on site. 

Manifesto, 2016, 94 min, directed by Julian Rosefeldt, DE/EN.

Making Manifesto 2018, 37 min, documentary, directed by Cristian Pirjol, DE/EN, produced by Julian Rosefeldt.

 

 

Julian Rosefeldt’s film Manifesto pays homage to the moving tradition and literary beauty of artist manifestos, ultimately questioning the role of the artist in society today. Manifesto draws on the writings of Futurists, Dadaists, Fluxus artists, Suprematists, Situationists, Dogma 95 and other artist groups, and the musings of individual artists, architects, dancers and filmmakers. Drawing on the ideas of Claes Oldenburg, Yvonne Rainer, Kazimir Malevich, André Breton, Sturtevant, Sol LeWitt, Jim Jarmusch, and many others, Rosefeldt reinterprets and brings to life artists’ manifestos in the form of cinematic collages.

Performing these words as a contemporary call to action, while inhabiting thirteen different personas – among them a school teacher, a puppeteer, a newsreader, a factory worker and a homeless man – Australian actress Cate Blanchett imbues new meaning into both famous and less known words in unexpected contexts.

Rosefeldt’s art film reveals both the performative component and the political significance of these declarations. Often written in youthful rage, they not only express the wish to change the world through art but also reflect the voice of a generation. Exploring the powerful urgency of these historical statements, which were composed with passion and conviction by artists many years ago, Manifesto questions whether the words and sentiments have withstood the passage of time. Can they be applied universally? And how have the dynamics between politics, art and life shifted?

Making Manifesto
Cristian Pirjol accompanied the whole production process of Manifesto. With his film he gives interesting insights into Julian Rosefeldt’s thoughts and ideas on Manifesto through backstage interviews and making-of-scenes with Cate Blanchett.