Ticket of No Return

Director: Ulrike Ottinger

1979 / 108min / DCP

Ottinger’s collision of Hollywood flamboyance and a particularly dour documentary aesthetic suits this Janus-faced tale of two female lushes from two very different walks of life, alike in many ways, but incapable of recognizing their bond. One is a known bag lady barfly; the other a socialite oddball who stays aloof from her surroundings, quietly but intently suiciding with booze. Their paired stories play out in a Berlin peopled by punks and New German Cinema icons, including Nina Hagen, Tabea Blumenschein, Magdalena Montezuma, and Eddie Constantine.

“Ulrike Ottinger is the most prolific lesbian style icon. I had the luck to meet her and take a masterclass with her at a film festival in Europe. Ticket of No Return stars Ottinger’s muse, Tabea Blumenschein, as she drinks her way through Berlin. Did I mention she looks absolutely amazing the whole time doing it? Of course. The film is giving femme top and it must be seen.”—K8 Hardy

With extended introduction from series curator K8 Hardy on Friday, December 16th at 9:30pm.