“No doubt it is an unusual idea to resurrect a dead animal”. The quote is from Lutz Heck, a German zoologist, author, and friend of Göring, who dreamed of resurrecting the aurochs, an ancestor of modern cattle. Shot on shimmering black-and-white celluloid, this droll, endearingly handmade essay explores attempts past and present to bring this extinct beast back to life: is science just another ideology? Like the two sets of film stock used to shoot the same procedure, the different covers of Heck’s book or the vast rainforest housed in a hangar: a copy can impress, deceive or seduce, but the original is something else entirely. (JL)
-Viennale, Vienna, Austria - 2020
-Black Canvas Festival de Cine Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico - 2020
-Lima Alterna Festival Internacional de Cine, Lima, Peru - 2020
-New York Film Festival – Currents, New York, USA - 2020
-IndieLisboa, Lisbon, Portugal - 2020
-Berlin International Film Festival - Forum Expanded, Berlin, Germany - 2020
Anja Dornieden and Juan David González Monroy are filmmakers based in Berlin. They work together under the moniker OJOBOCA. Together they practice Orrorism, a simulated method of inner and outer transformation. They have presented their films and performances in a wide variety of venues and festivals worldwide, among them the Wexner Center for the Arts, Österreichische Filmmuseum, Anthology Film Archives, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Kunstverein München, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Berlinale, New York Film Festival, Visions du Réel, RIDM, Ann Arbor Film Festival and Edinburgh International Film Festival. Both González Monroy and Dornieden are members of the artist-run film lab LaborBerlin.