Blessed Blessed Oblivion weaves together a portrait of male “thug” culture in East Jerusalem, manifested in gyms, body shops and hair dressing parlours. Inspired by Kenneth Anger’s Scorpio Rising (1963), the video uses visual collage and the musical soundtrack as ironic commentary. Anger’s subjects – leather-clad bikers – serve as a counterpoint to the culture Manna attempts to portray. Simultaneously psychologising and allowing herself to be seduced by the characters, Manna finds herself in a double bind, similar to the conflicted desire that animates her protagonist as he drifts from abject rants to declamations of heroic poetry or unashamed self-praise.

• Sektion Section: Film
• Programm Programme: Howl