Debates & Lectures 2016 – FRONTIERS / UNLIMITED

Thematical accompanying program in cooperation with the Cluster of Excellence “The Emergence of Normative Orders” at the Goethe University of Frankfurt/Main.

In 2016, featuring “Frontiers” puts a basic principal of relationships between individuals, societies, value systems or ways of thinking at the center of attention of the LICHTER Filmfest. A series of talk show events flanks the international film program. Under discussion are living causes of drawing up frontiers and demarcations in interaction with film and society. Frontiers as dividing lines in space, psychology or identity formation between nations, economies, cultures, religions or social milieus are the center of attention. What kinds of frontiers are there? What do they imply and what do they cause? Do we live in a time of dissolving existing frontiers or redrawing boundaries? Necessarily, the search for answers even leads the festival to the question of individual and societal freedom.

I. Europa: Aussen.Grenzen.Innen. [Europe: Outside.Borders.Inside]

Opening talk

March 30, 2016 // 7pm // Festival lounge Mousonturm

Until recently, for most Europeans frontiers have been a thing of the past. On a vacation trip to France or Italy, turnpikes have been experiences from the last millennium. Global economies, Erasmus scholarships, budget airlines, and the monetary union have long suppressed the memories of blocks, the iron curtain and the cold war.

Ever since more and more people have been fleeing to Europe from war and misery, the scene has changed. Many Europeans have become aware that peace, prosperity, and freedom to travel are not to be taken for granted. Amidst the European societies, those who have fled put flesh on the dramas of their countries of origin, at the external and meanwhile even at the internal frontiers. Their presence confronts the European people with questions:

In what shape are the frequently invoked European values? Does Europe have to share its prosperity more greatly or can it continue to rely on isolation? What responsibilities does Europe bear for conflicts in the Arabic world and elsewhere? How can the European people contribute to peaceful solutions and learn to embrace the opportunities of pluralistic societies?

Discussion Panel:

  • Ralph Bollmann, Historian, journalist and editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung
  • Prof. Dr. Nicole Deitelhoff, professor for international relations and theories of global orders / Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”
  • Karl Kopp, European representative of Pro Asyl
  • Dr. Mark Terkessidis, migration researcher, journalist, publicist e.g. Interkultur (2010) and recently Kollaboration (2015)

Host: Dr. Eberhard Nembach, journalist and editor of hr-info

II. Frankfurter Kranz zur Flüchtlingshilfe [Frankfurt Circle regarding aid for refugees]

How can the situation of refugees be improved and how can their arrival be facilitated and their cohabitation be shaped? Municipal and private initiatives, church communities and cultural institutions are better and better organized. They react to the needs of the refugees and respond to societal challenges. The coalition “FRANKFURT HILFT” a contact point for citizens who would like to get involved in refugee relief work. Initiatives such as “PROJECT SHELTER or “SHOUT OUT LOUD offer help for refugees, for example when it comes to accommodation, a warm meal, or contacts to the people of Frankfurt. The city of Frankfurt has established an administrative department in order to pool and coordinate the various projects. At the Frankfurter Kranz, agents of the Frankfurter Flüchtlingshilfe get together and provide an insight into their work.

Discussion panel:

  • Dilek Akkaya, frankfurt hilft
  • Tal Boomkens, Project Shelter
  • Kolja Müller, Stabsstelle Flüchtlingsmanagement der Stadt Frankfurt
  • Anna-Mara Schön, Shout Out Loud
    and further guests

Presentation:
Marie-Sophie Adeoso, Frankfurter Rundschau

III. Lichter Agora: Grenzen Unlimited

Interdisciplinary Conference

March 31 – APRIL 1, 2016 // Festival lounge Mousonturm

This year’s motto of the LICHTER Agora is “Grenzen Unlimited”. The program of the open discussion forum features political lines of conflict and their challenges, the unlimited space of the internet, questions of cyberlaw or the looming borders of growth. At the Agora, the interdisciplinary dialogue of scientists, practitioners and audience does not have borders.


Thursday March 31, 2016 // 7pm
Conference Opening / Get-together in the festival restaurant Hans & Franz


Friday April 1, 2016 // from 1pm
Agora relay talk with various topics:

Ich // Die Anderen [I // Others]

Social borders and experiences of demarcation between societal groups: How can we identify borders between status, power and distribution of goods and also between attitudes, convictions, stances and value systems?

Hier // Dort [Here // There]

Political drawing of borders as focal points: How much border does democracy need and tolerate? Which challenges do transgressions of borders (for example through migration) pose for political systems? Do we have to reimagine democracy and politics in their relation to the border?

Virtual // Reality

The internet and its role in normative orders: Where do the borders between public and private sphere lie in the net? How can we guarantee autonomy and data privacy? How can rule of law be established on the internet?

Welt // Raum [World // Space]

Borders of growth, of progress and of people: Which borders are set for people by nature? Where do we reach the limits of possibility? How are climate changes and migration related? Which role do political boundaries play for the ecological preservation of our planet?

With: Marcus Jurk, Ben Kamis, Dr. Matthias Kettemann, Jonathan Klein, Prof. Verena Kuni, Sebastian Läßle, Max Pichl, Dr. Valentin Rauer, Johannes Röß, Dr. Vanessa Rüegger, Dr. Thorsten Thiel and other researchers

Host:
Yumin Li, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Katja Kynast, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Find more details about the AGORA here.

IV. Ästhetik der Grenze/Grenzen der Ästhetik [Aesthetics of the Border/Borders of Aesthetics]

Moderated talk in cooperation with the magazine Pop. Kultur und Kritik

April 2, 2016 // 7pm // Festival lounge Mousonturm

The rhetoric of the avant-garde often entails the appeal: Transgress borders! Overcome traditions and academic conventions! Anti-authoritarian transgressions in life and art have the power to change politics according to the avant-garde. A modern politics thus does not only entail the changing of state and property laws but also a new aesthetic stance. Conservatives, however, have always counted on the drawing of borders; only through them do we reach a successful aesthetic form. Which role do (aesthetic) borders play today in the age of Western pop-liberality and museum avant-garde art? How does art reflect subjects of flight and migration? How do artists influence the political discourse?

Discussion Panel:

  • Sonja Eismann, cultural scholar and co-founder/editor „Missy Magazin“Elena Beregow, sociologist Universität Hamburg
  • Cesy Leonard, head of planning staff and the film department Zentrum für Politische Schönheit
  • and others

Host:
Prof. Dr. Thomas Hecken, Professor for Modern German Literature at Universität Siegen and editor of the magazine „Pop. Kultur und Kritik“as well as the website www.pop-zeitschrift.de.

V. GrenzParcours: Walk the Line!

Exhibition in the festival lounge
Tue from 6:30 pm // Wed+Thu from 4:00 pm // Fri from 12:00 pm // Sat+Sun from 2:30 pm
Opening: Tuesday, 6:30 pm

Some borders are visible to the naked eye. Others only become tangible through stories, conversations or pictures. The GrenzParcours, an exhibition tour through the festival center, shows artistic works of political and spatial drawings of lines, of societal demarcation and individual isolation. They reflect migration and flight, surveillance, infinity and gender. Selected photographs, maps, video projections and computer games invite visitors at different stations to linger, look or play.

Find more information about the daily exhibition GrenzParcours: Walk the Line! here.