Spermwhore

2016-01-22

This short film is a queer, feminist and experimental work that began in 2009 and came to fruition in the spring of 2013.

Spermwhore is a queer experimental film about unwanted childlessness in a world where normative heterosexual relationships dictate who can become parents and in what way. When it comes to reproduction our merciless bodies reduce us to merely a set sex or given gender. But the longing for children is not limited to our bodies, and the possibility of pregnancy can be gifted, shared and undertaken together.

Read more about the working process in the book Queer Moving Images.

“Anna Linder’s Spermwhore is a film years in the making, and finally brings the festival the queer text it has been lacking up to this point. The film, making beautiful use of Super 8mm stock, is explicitly focused on queer bodies, parenthood and the destruction of heteronormative power structures. Spermwhore argues that families should resemble any form that provides love and care for a child, and proclaims the two-parent (wealthy, straight) unit dead. This is a powerful, intersectional feminist text, and one that should be seen by all who love experimental film.”
By Ben Harrison, Exclaim!. Review from Images Festival, Toronto. Published Apr 17, 2016.

“The title of Anna Linder’s experimental film sounds like the first in a series of highly successful bukake flicks. But the Swedish artist’s contribution is actually a look at the challenges of procreation outside of normative hetero couplings. Using a combination of colour and black and white Super 8, she and her crew shot different types of textiles in motion to create a room with constant flickering spots and swirling sound. Though the piece was inspired partly by Linder’s own life, there’s no literal story on display here. Rather, the film aims to create a highly abstracted representation of the emotions associated with longing for children, pregnancy and miscarriage through a queer lens. Aside from the additional challenges queer reproduction brings, Spermwhore examines queer parenting as an act that’s as political as it is personal, from the initial longing for a child to the overwhelming joy that comes with success after years of trying.”
By Chris Dupois, Daily Xtra. Published April 13, 2016.

Production facts	A film by Anna Linder; 2016, 12 min, 4:3, color/bw, sound 5.1, original format: super-8, screening format: DCP
Director	Anna Linder
Cast	Anna Linder, Hanna Högstedt, Juli Apponen, Zafire Vrba and Niika Linder, Rio Gäredal
Cinematographers	Maja Borg and Annika Busch
Editor and Super-8 Treatment	Maja Borg
Sewing	Anna Linder
Music	Erika Angell
Lyrics	Anna Linder, Hanna Högstedt, Juli Apponen, Zafire Vrba
Sound	Jan Alvermark
Graphic design	Josefin Herolf
Colorist	Per Sjökvist, Filmlance International
Online	Jonas Eriksson, Filmlance International
Tattoo	Sole, StaDemonia Tattoo Barcelona
	Filmed on a Beaulieu 6008 PRO
Runner	Anders Rundberg
Producer	Anna Linder
Production company	Big Human Productions 2016
	Financial Support by The Swedish Research Council, Valand Academy and The Swedish Film Institute, film commissioners Andreas Fock and Andra Lasmanis
Contact and Distribution Worldwide	CFMDC – Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre, bookings(at)cfmdc.org, www.cfmdc.org HEURE EXQUISE ! – Centre International pour les Arts Vidéo, contact(at)exquise.org, www.heure-exquise.org Anna Linder +46 70 6430151, mail(at)annalinder.se
Festival Distribution	Jing Haase +46 8 6651133, jing.haase(at)filminstitutet.se
Spermwhore	is part of the research project Queer Moving Images at Valand Academy

2016 OFFICIAL SELECTION

Photo: Maja Borg

Download Presskit as PDF

Contact Anna Linder for full resolution press images.

Screenings

International Film Festival Rotterdam, Lantaren 5 The Netherlands – 2016/01/29

Images Festival Toronto, Jackman Hall, Art Gallery Ontario Canada – 2016/04/17

Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, Lichtburg Filmpalast/Sunset Germany – 2016/05/09

Edinburgh International Film Festival, Cineworld 5 Scotland – 2016/06/18

MIX Copenhagen, Sjællandsgade Bad Denmark – 2016/10/06

VOX Feminae, Zagreb Croatien – 2016/10/08

Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Uppsala Sweden – 2016/10/26

Queer Streifen Film Festival, Regensburg Germany – 2016/11/03

Pink Screens Brussel, Beursschouwburg Belgien – 2016/11/17

Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest London, Hackney Showroom UK – 2016/11/19

Umeå European Film Festival, Bildmuseet Sweden – 2016/11/26

Um Outro Film Festival, CCBB, Curator Gustavo Galvao Brasilia – 2017/01/20

14 Zinegoak LGTB Film & Performing Arts Festival, Bilbao Spain – 2017/02/20

Tempo Documentary Film Festival, Bio Rio Stockholm Sweden – 2017/03/11

Melbourne Queer Film Festival, ACMI, Curator Anna Helme Australia – 2017/03/19

BFI Flare London, British Film Institute NFT 3 UK – 2017/03/23

Polar Festival – Panorama Nordic, La Gaite Lyrique, Paris France – 2017/04/21

Frame Film Festival , Bio Roy, Gothenburg Sweden – 2017/05/06

Gerlesborgsskolan, Curator Karolina Pahlén Sweden – 2017/05/10

12th XPOSED Int. Queer Film Festival, Moviemento, Berlin Germany – 2017/05/12

Borderline – Culture Festival, Litteraturhuset, Gothenburg Sweden – 2017/05/31

1th Hungary Queer Festival, Művelődési Szint (Müszi) Hungary – 2017/06/04

Rio Festival de Gênero & Sexualidade no Cinema, Cine Odeon, Rio de Janeiro Brasil – 2017/06/06

WHAT THE FUCK ? FEST***, Cirque Electrique, Paris France – 2017/07/01

17th IMAGES CONTRE NATURE 2017, Videodrome 2, Marseille France – 2017/07/05

TranScreen Film Festival, Kriterion 3, Amsterdam The Netherlands – 2017/09/15

Feminist Film Club, Unit 4 Towerdykeside, Hawick Scotland – 2017/09/28

STOCKmotion Filmfestival, Swedish Film Institute, Sthlm Sweden – 2017/10/14

Lesbisch Schwule Filmtage, Metropolis, Hamburg Germany – 2017/10/22

INVIDEO, 27th Int Exhibition of Video & Cinema Beyond, Spazio Oberdan, Milano Italy – 2017/11/16

Trans Film Fest Stockholm, Stockholm Sweden – 2017/11/17

Program

Queer Moving Images, Anna Linder, Göteborgs konsthall Göteborgs konsthall Sweden – 2017-02-04

Family First, Curator Sarah Guarino Florén Södertälje konsthall Sweden – 2017-10-07

CITY OF WOMEN, Artistic Director Teja Reba Galerija Alkatraz, Ljubljana Slovenia – 2017-10-08

En queer experimentell film om ofrivillig barnlöshet i en värld där de normativa heterosexuella relationerna sätter reglerna för vem och vilka som får bli föräldrar och på vilket sätt. Dessa kroppar som normaliserar oss till kön när vi vill reproducera oss själva. Om viljan att ge bort den möjligheten till någon annan och den gemensamma längtan och försöken att bli gravida tillsammans.

Läs mer om arbetet med filmen i boken Queera rörliga bilder.

Anna Linders film Spermahoran (2016) lyfter nödvändigheten av att öppna för och synliggöra olika former av familjebildning. En personligt hållen skildring som tar avstamp i smärtsam erfarenhet av ofrivillig barnlöshet. Det är en bild uppbrutet i facetter, där fleras liv går in i varandras för att nytt liv ska bli till – men också ett tätt sammanflätat familjeporträtt.
Liksom varje individ i filmen sätter sin prägel, tillför de olika materialen karaktär. Super 8 är en typ av film som använts för hemmabruk, en ofta handhållen kamera som kommer nära. Känslan i bilden kopplar även tillbaka till 1970- och 1980-talens experimentfilm. Den analoga filmens materialitet möter här textilens, i sömmar som löper genom filmremsan och binder samman, eller stansar flimrande sår i den mörka bilden. Eller lagren av tyg som varsamt slås om den samlade familjen i skyddande hinnor. Den specialskrivna musiken med de medverkandes egna texter ger en ytterligare dimension.

Anna Linder är filmskapare, konstnär och curator. Hon intresserar sig för processer, periferi, mellanmänskliga relationer och handens arbete i verk som tar sig uttryck i rörlig bild, installationer eller performance. I Spermahoran skildrar hon queer erfarenhet bortom en föregiven heteronormativ ordning, och utifrån en kollektiv process.
/ Lena Essling, Moderna Museet

“Anna Linder’s Spermwhore is a film years in the making, and finally brings the festival the queer text it has been lacking up to this point. The film, making beautiful use of Super 8mm stock, is explicitly focused on queer bodies, parenthood and the destruction of heteronormative power structures. Spermwhore argues that families should resemble any form that provides love and care for a child, and proclaims the two-parent (wealthy, straight) unit dead. This is a powerful, intersectional feminist text, and one that should be seen by all who love experimental film.” Skrivet av Ben Harrison, Exclaim!. Recension från Images Festival, Toronto. Publicerad 17 April, 2016.

Produktionsfakta	2016, 12 min, 4:3, färg/sv/vit, ljud 5.1, original format: super-8, visningsformat: DCP
Regissör	Anna Linder
Medverkande	Anna Linder, Hanna Högstedt, Juli Apponen, Zafire Vrba och Niika Linder, Rio Gäredal
Filmfoto	Maja Borg och Annika Busch
Klipp och Super-8 bearbetning	Maja Borg
Sömnad och Super-8 bearbetning	Anna Linder
Musik	Erika Angell
Text	Anna Linder, Hanna Högstedt, Juli Apponen, Zafire Vrba
Ljud	Jan Alvermark
Grafisk form	Josefin Herolf
Colorist	Per Sjökvist, Filmlance International
Online	Jonas Eriksson, Filmlance International
Tattoo	Sole, StaDemonia Tattoo Barcelona
	Filmad med en Beaulieu 6008 PRO
Inspelningsassistent	Anders Rundberg
Producent	Anna Linder
Produktionsbolag	Big Human Productions 2016
	Kulturinvestering av Vetenskapsrådet, Akademin Valand och Svenska Filminstitutet, filmkonsulenter Andreas Fock och Andra Lasmanis
Kontakt och distribution worldwide	CFMDC – Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre, bookings(at)cfmdc.org, www.cfmdc.org HEURE EXQUISE ! – Centre International pour les Arts Vidéo, contact(at)exquise.org, www.heure-exquise.org Anna Linder +46 70 6430151, mail(at)annalinder.se
Festivaldistribution	Jing Haase +46 8 6651100, jing.haase(at)filminstitutet.se
Spermahoran	är en del av forskningsprojektet Queera rörliga bilder Queer Moving Images at Valand Academy