A DAD

100 years of Dada is actually no reason to celebrate, if you consider the history of how this most radical of all art movements was appropriated and neutralized. Nevertheless, Robert Cambrinus´ agile homage A DAD today honors the impulse behind the movement´s founding in 1916 at the Zurich Cabaret Voltaire. The alphabetic reversal of the film´s title signals its agenda to highlight the methodical know-how Dada gave the world, as forerunner of more recent applications such as the cut-up, re-mix or mash-up.
And this is precisely what Cambrinus´ film impressively demonstrates, revealing the collage mode underlying techniques of processing contemporary media phenomena: Hilariously cut-up introductory speeches are offered by the likes of Obama and Putin; predecessors of today´s digipoetry are honored through the citation of historical texts ranging from Christian Morgenstern to Ernst Jandl; spectacular images of current culture (from pornography to IS) are deservedly demystified under such headlines as "i-collage", and "Schwitters twitters". That every contemporary impulse of freedom or resistance is overshadowed by powerful information or intelligence giants (Facebook, Apple, NSA) also rubs off on ideological blocs of the past (Communism, National Socialism, the "free" West): "The present leaves traces in the past", reads a beautifully laid out blackmail letter. Staged scenes stand in refreshing contrast to the sampled footage, such as when master and dog turn reality upside down. And this perfectly exemplifies how "That Da Da Strain" cannot be removed from our world, as heard on the accompanying soundtrack in a song most eloquently delivered by the jazz singer Ethel Waters. (Christian Höller)

Orig. Title
A DAD
Year
2016
Country
Austria
Duration
11 min 21 sec
Director
Robert Cambrinus
Category
Experimental
Orig. Language
English
Downloads
A DAD (Image)
A DAD (Image)
Credits
Director
Robert Cambrinus
Music
Juan Pablo Trad Hasbun
Sound Mix
Alexander Wieser
Graphics
Anita Kern
Available Formats
DCP 2K flat
Aspect Ratio
16:9
Sound Format
Dolby stereo
Frame Rate
25 fps
Color Format
colour, b/w
Digital File (prores, h264)
Festivals (Selection)
2016
Neubrandenburg - dokumentART
2017
San Jose/Californien - Cinequest Film Festival
Chicoutimi/Saguenay - REGARD sur le court métrage
Lissabon - Indielisboa Int. Film and Videofestival
Seattle - SIFF, Seattle International Film Festival
Kiev International Short Film Festival
Weimar - back-up festival. new media in film
Cannes - AVIFF Art Film Festival (First Juryprize)
Poznan - Animator, Int. Animation Film Festival (Grand Prix: Golden Pegasus)
Hamburg - Internationales Kurzfilmfestival (Audience Award)
Paris - L'Etrange Festival
Wiesbaden - exground on screen
Marienbad International Film Festival
Quebéc City Film Festival
2018
Jakarta - Arkipel Int Documentary and Experimental Film Festival
Jakarta - Arkipel Int Documentary and Experimental Film Festival