In conjunction with the exhibition Reassembling Past Futures the ACF London will screen the classic Sissi trilogy depicting the life of Empress Elisabeth (Sissi) of Austria in three subsequent Wednesday screenings. The films, starring Romy Schneider as Sissi and Karlheinz Böhm as the Emperor Franz-Joseph, are among the most successful German-speaking films of all time.

Artists Anna Artaker and Lilla Khoór juxtapose screen shots of the second Sissi film released in 1957, which depicts the creation of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867, with images of Budapest from the same year. The stark contrast of these two sets of images questions how we depict history in order to redefine authorship.

The first film of the trilogy Sissi tells the story of how Elisabeth of Bavaria meets and eventually marries the young Emperor Franz Joseph depsite her older sister Nene being the intended bride. Sissi travels up the Danube to Vienna for the lavish wedding that brings the first installment of the trilogy to an end.

German with English subtitles

Cineclub will also screen the second and third installments of the trilogy followed by an Anti-Sissi programme including Death Watch with Romi Schneider and Peeping Tom with Karlheinz Böhm.