BALDIGA – ENTSICHERTES HERZ (Special mit Gespräch & Dragshow)

In the organizer's words:

FRG 2024, documentary film, 92 min, FSK 16

Director: Markus Stein

With: Bernd Gaiser, Juliette Brinkmann, Birgit Baldiga, part-time princess Linette

Language: OV (German)

"Through and through in the broken environment of desires. Hustlers, transvestites, the mentally ill, alcoholics. That's where I feel at home. That's the world that needs to be captured."

West Berlin 1979: Jürgen Baldiga, the son of a miner from Essen, has just moved to the city and decided to become an artist. He works as a hustler and cook, writes poems and a diary. With his HIV infection, he discovers photography in 1984. His pictures are intended to stop time and capture reality: They show his friends and lovers, wild sex and life on the street, and again and again the lusty faggots of the gay club SchwuZ, who become his family of choice. Between despair and desire, rebellion and an irrepressible will to survive, Baldiga becomes a chronicler of West Berlin's subculture in the face of his own imminent death. When he died in 1993 at the age of 34, he left behind thousands of photographs and 40 diaries - a unique artistic legacy.

What remains of the AIDS and gay activism of the 1980s? What has changed since then? And what battles must be fought today? On the occasion of World AIDS Day 2024, aidshilfe leipzig e.V. would like to join Athena Owls and part-time princess Linette in a subsequent live talk about the film and address these questions, among others. A final performance by the two drag artists will round off the evening.

ENG: Jürgen Baldiga moved to West-Berlin in 1979 and decided to become an artist. Cook by day, hooker by night, he gets deeply involved with the gay subculture of his time. After his diagnosis with HIV in 1984, he discovers photography and becomes an unparalleled chronographer of West Berlin's queer subculture by portraying his new chosen family, friends and lovers. When he died in 1993 at the age of 34, he left behind thousands of photographs and 40 diaries - a unique artistic legacy.

After the film, the aidshilfe Leipzig sits down with drag artists Athena Owls and part-time princess Linette to talk about what remains of the AIDS- and gay activism of the 1980s, what changed and what needs to be done today. As a special treat, there is going to be a drag performance in the end. (film and discussion in German).

In cooperation with aidshilfe Leipzig.