Short films and discussion (in German)

6:30 pm | Short film screening

“hands on nails – we are open” kicks off with the event “Context:Society” featuring a selection of short films highlighting the social aspects of nails and nail studios.

Sorge 87 | Thanh Nguyễn Phương | DE 2018 animation 10’
“Sorge 87” is an animated, biographical, documentary film about working life in the textile industry of former East Germany. How does the current situation compare to that of the past, now that so many nail studios are operated by representatives of the Vietnamese community?

Stinkfrucht – Taste of Home | Âni Võ | DE 2022 feature/drama 29‘
The feature film “Stinkfrucht – Taste of Home” casts a light on the negative aspects and power imbalances driven by social precarity, financial dependence and unchecked economic forces. What went wrong to give rise to such criminal structures within the nail branch? What responsibility should politics and society assume to combat them?

HÄNDE | Verena Brakonier, Jivan Frenster, Greta Granderath | DE 2021 documentary 15’
The documentary film “HÄNDE” asks whether it’s possible to identify class background and class affiliation simply by looking at one’s hands: poverty, affluence, working conditions, lifestyles, access to money, culture...? The film urges us to think about social circumstances and discrimination, and to view hands in terms of the power dynamics of class and classism (classism is a form of discrimination based on one’s social background and/or social and economic position).

See You Next Time | Crystal Kayiza | USA 2019 documentary 7’
The evocative documentary film “See You Next Time” centres on encounters at the manicure table. Crystal Kayiza describes her film as a behind-the-scenes look at the intimate moments between a Chinese nail artist and her Black client in a Brooklyn nail salon. What do they share and what divides them?

7:45 pm | Discussion
Following the short film screening, Ayşe Güleç (researcher and activist) will moderate a discussion between Phương Thúy Nguyễn (“Sorge 87”, W.I.R. – wirlautstark, Werdauer Initiative gegen Rassismus WIR e.V.) and Verena Brakonier (“HÄNDE”). Visitors are cordially invited to participate.

Free entry. Please register here.