Chicago Drive and more

Chicago Drive

1992. USA/Germany. Directed by Isa Genzken. Cinematography by Ray Wang. Made on location in Chicago, while Genzken was in town for a survey of her work at the University of Chicago’s Renaissance Society, this short film alternates between images of the city’s iconic modernist architecture (a powerful influence on Genzken’s visual art practice), and vistas of Chicago’s South Side. 27 min.

My Grandparents in the Bavarian Forest

1992. Germany. Directed by Isa Genzken. This personal account, Genzken’s first feature-length film, was shot with a handheld camera at her grandparents’ home in southern Germany. Through the recording of seemingly banal conversations and her grandparent’s quotidian rituals, Genzken draws a moving portrait of the complexity of family dynamics, and the difficulty of coming to terms with the survivors of the World War II generation. 63 min.