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Still from the animated film “The Lemberg Machine”. A female figure stands with her back to the camera in a deserted, gloomy street.

Filmstill from The Lemberg Machine, Ukraine 2023, copyright: Dana Kavelina

The Lemberg Machine

Film screening and talk with Dana Kavelina and David Riff, part of the series “Ukraine in Context”

Artist Dana Kavelina’s animated film The Lemberg Machine addresses the Lemberg (present-day Lviv) pogroms of June and July 1941 in the context of the Nazi occupation. Kavelina tells a story that has been rewritten from the perspective of the resurrected victims, based on eyewitness accounts from survivors.

Past event

Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The W. M. Blumenthal Academy is marked in green

Where

W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
Klaus Mangold Auditorium
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
(Opposite the Museum)

The film was commissioned for steirischer herbst ‘23, an interdisciplinary arts festival in Styria, Austria. 

Following the screening, Dana Kavelina and David Riff, the curator of steirischer herbst, will talk about the context and the making of the animated film.

Original title The Lemberg Machine
Genre Animated film
Artist Dana Kavelina
Country of production Ukraine
Original languages Yiddish, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian and German (with English subtitles)
Release year 2023
Running time 53 min

Dana Kavelina (born 1995 in Melitopol, Ukraine) is an artist and filmmaker. She works with text, painting, graphics, video and installation, and produces animated films that explore personal and historical trauma as well as perceptions of war beyond the standard narrative. Her works have been shown at the Kmytiv Museum, the Closer Art Center in Kyiv and the Sakharov Center in Moscow. She has received awards at the Odesa International Film Festival and the KROK International Animated Film Festival.

David Riff (born 1975 in London, UK) is an author, translator, artist, curator and former member of the artist collective Chto Delat. He has been curator of steirischer herbst since 2018. Among other things, Riff also co-curated the first Ural Industrial Biennial in Yekaterinburg (2010) alongside Cosmin Costinas and Ekaterina Degot, and led the first Bergen Assembly (2013) together with Degot. His most recent project was an exhibition on Michail Lifschitz in Moscow (2018), undertaken in collaboration with Dmitry Gutov. David Riff lives in Berlin.

Where, when, what?

  • WhenTue 2 Jul 2024, 7 pm
  • Where W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
    Klaus Mangold Auditorium
    Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
    (Opposite the Museum)
    See location on map
  • Entry fee

    6 €, reduced rate 3 €

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