The Filmwinter is well-known for its exquisite parties, which are as astonishing and innovative as the rest of the festival program. Especially trends in the VJ culture and robotics in clubs are reflected in the Filmwinter's parties.

 

The opening night stars De:Bug Lounge an their DJs from Berlin. The live act is Vert (Adam Butler), an Englishman living in Cologne, who's signed to the Mouse on Mars-label "sonig". With his laptop and a piano he will introduce parts of his new version of Keith Jarrett's "Cologne Concerts": "Distorted rythms and bronchitous melodies making a great day at the dancehall. Vert is a bright beat bronco blowing the backpipes of avantgarde mooseic".

 

The DASDING-Party on Friday, 17 January, presents veritable house music and dancehall interludes. Albert Gabriel aka Arj Snoek (Cologne) is the Doogie Howser among German house producers, whereas he's rather likely to be pegged to Whirlpool/ Workshop and several French collegues than to "conventional" house. His unpretentious tracks are slightly influenced by reggae. His second pseudonym DJ Chestnut stands for hip hop: In 1997 at the age of 17 he debuted as DJ Chestnut at Groove Attack. An inspiring evening with a music-multiple personality under the motto: "Fruit of the Loop".

 

On Saturday, DJ Werner from Stuttgart plays early electric and transforms it into 21st century conform dancable grooves. The DJ set is completed by a two-headed live act with eight turn tables, which name we don't want to reveal yet. The approporiate answer to the DJ-Robot of last year's Filmwinter?

The closing event on Sunday, 19 January is themed "beat": the 3 Normal Beatles from Hamburg present refreshing, cosmopolitan beat and soul. The main activities of the three musicians are self-explanatory: Everyone knows Ted Gaier from the "Goldene Zitronen", Klaus Ramcke is the singer of the fantastic "Les Robbespierres" and Thorsten Seif works for the Buback label. Subsequently we'll hear DJ Stanley Ipkiss – named after a protagonist in "Clockwork Orange" – who rocks the Goldener PudelClub and the Tanzhalle in Hamburg every week.

 

VJs at this year's Filmwinter are e.g. the Austrian duo Claudia Rohrmoser and Marcel Schobel. Aside from remittance works for Viva 2, Porsche Austria and VW Austria they have attracted attention with artistic works for the Steirischer Herbst (2000), the ARS electronica (1999) and as visual support, e.g. for Kruder and Dorfmeister, AdamF and Jmajik, Dj Storm (Metalheadz). Their visuals carry elements of traditional experimental animations, computer animations and live video remixing. In cooperation with different sound artists they expand them to audiovisual concerts. Rohrmoser and Schobel create installations and visuals for the club context.