Courtisane – notes on cinema
Filmfestival|Artistic contributions from Germany
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ARCA und Minard, Gent
- Language divers
- Price Films: €9–13, depending on financial means; performance by KMRU: €12; festival tickets: €75–250.
The question of home is a recurring theme in this year's festival programme Courtisane – notes on cinema, which will take place in Ghent from 1 to 5 April.
Ambivalent levels of meaning of home, between place of longing and refuge, alienation or divergence – the 25th edition of the film festival examines how exile and transclassical perspectives break down familiar notions of belonging and what new, more generous forms of coexistence could emerge if social energies were redirected into more open worlds instead of narrow identity concepts.
The film programme Undercurrents presents, among other things, tavorträume, the latest short film and final project at the Kassel Art Academy by young filmmaker Leonard Volkmer. In the Measures of Distance programme, sound artist KMRU will present a new sound performance. We look forward to welcoming both artists to the festival.
Other German contributions to the festival are also not to be missed: for example, Gernot Wieland's Family Constellation with a Fox, which was shown at the last Berlin Biennale in 2025, or Lemohang Jeremiah Moses' fantastic documentary Mother, I Am Suffocating. This Is My Last Film About You, which celebrated its world premiere at the Berlinale in 2019.
Friday, 3 April 2026 at 7.30 pm
Place: Minard
Joseph Kamaru, better known as KMRU, is a Nairobi-born sound artist and producer currently based in Berlin. For KMRU, sound serves as a sensorial medium through which he explores political, material, and conceptual dimensions. Drawing from a rich repository of listening experiences in Nairobi and beyond, he expands his sonic practice to heighten awareness of his surroundings through creative compositions, installations, and performances. He has collaborated with Niamké Désiré aka Aho Ssan, Freya Edmondes aka Elvin Brandhi, and Kevin Martin aka The Bug, amongst others, and has released his work on prestigious labels such as Mego, Touch and Subtext. Alongside this, he honours his grandfather and namesake, Joseph Kamaru — the celebrated Kenyan activist and Benga musician — by reissuing his music and continuing his legacy of sonic storytelling.
Conversation with the artist
Thursday 2 April 2026 at 5.00 pm
Cinema: Arca
A conversation about the complex sound specter of our environments and surroundings, the struggle against sonic colonialities and the potential of emancipatory listening.
In the context of the research project Echoes of Dissent (KASK & Conservatory /School of Arts Gent)
In collaboration with KASK & Conservatory media arts & music production departments
2025, Germany, digital, sound, 9 mins
Friday 3 April 2026 at 10.15 pm
Cinema: Arca
A fractured stream of thought tightens into a spiral of love addiction, longing, jealousy, sex, drugs, and psychic instability. The inner monologue is built from fragments: half-finished sentences, memories flaring up, thoughts looping back. Somewhere between intoxication and reality, it moves by feeling. Set against a series of self-portrait photographs, Volkmer traces mental health, queerness, and desire with unselfconscious vulnerability.
In the presence of Margaux Dauby & Raúl Domingues, Leonard Volkmer.
Curated by Christina Stuhlberger.
In the context of the artistic research project Doubled Voiced: Poetics of Exchange (LUCA School of Arts/KU Leuven). In collaboration with Elephy.
Ambivalent levels of meaning of home, between place of longing and refuge, alienation or divergence – the 25th edition of the film festival examines how exile and transclassical perspectives break down familiar notions of belonging and what new, more generous forms of coexistence could emerge if social energies were redirected into more open worlds instead of narrow identity concepts.
The film programme Undercurrents presents, among other things, tavorträume, the latest short film and final project at the Kassel Art Academy by young filmmaker Leonard Volkmer. In the Measures of Distance programme, sound artist KMRU will present a new sound performance. We look forward to welcoming both artists to the festival.
Other German contributions to the festival are also not to be missed: for example, Gernot Wieland's Family Constellation with a Fox, which was shown at the last Berlin Biennale in 2025, or Lemohang Jeremiah Moses' fantastic documentary Mother, I Am Suffocating. This Is My Last Film About You, which celebrated its world premiere at the Berlinale in 2019.
KMRU
2026, sound performance, ca. 50 minFriday, 3 April 2026 at 7.30 pm
Place: Minard
Joseph Kamaru, better known as KMRU, is a Nairobi-born sound artist and producer currently based in Berlin. For KMRU, sound serves as a sensorial medium through which he explores political, material, and conceptual dimensions. Drawing from a rich repository of listening experiences in Nairobi and beyond, he expands his sonic practice to heighten awareness of his surroundings through creative compositions, installations, and performances. He has collaborated with Niamké Désiré aka Aho Ssan, Freya Edmondes aka Elvin Brandhi, and Kevin Martin aka The Bug, amongst others, and has released his work on prestigious labels such as Mego, Touch and Subtext. Alongside this, he honours his grandfather and namesake, Joseph Kamaru — the celebrated Kenyan activist and Benga musician — by reissuing his music and continuing his legacy of sonic storytelling.
“Different places have identifiable sonic identities relating to their specific locations and the auditory culture of the place. We are influenced by the environments we live in, but mostly not aware of them. This became apparent to me when I first traveled to Berlin and realised how different its sonic identity is from Nairobi. Sounds communicate the different senses and properties of the respective cities: Berlin has more motor sounds, while Nairobi has more sounds of people. We experience these sounds on a daily basis and it is important that we know how they affect us. If they change, they might indicate that something is different, and if we are attentive, we will notice it.”
Conversation with the artist
Thursday 2 April 2026 at 5.00 pm
Cinema: Arca
A conversation about the complex sound specter of our environments and surroundings, the struggle against sonic colonialities and the potential of emancipatory listening.
In the context of the research project Echoes of Dissent (KASK & Conservatory /School of Arts Gent)
In collaboration with KASK & Conservatory media arts & music production departments
tavorträume
Leonard Volkmer2025, Germany, digital, sound, 9 mins
Friday 3 April 2026 at 10.15 pm
Cinema: Arca
A fractured stream of thought tightens into a spiral of love addiction, longing, jealousy, sex, drugs, and psychic instability. The inner monologue is built from fragments: half-finished sentences, memories flaring up, thoughts looping back. Somewhere between intoxication and reality, it moves by feeling. Set against a series of self-portrait photographs, Volkmer traces mental health, queerness, and desire with unselfconscious vulnerability.
In the presence of Margaux Dauby & Raúl Domingues, Leonard Volkmer.
Curated by Christina Stuhlberger.
In the context of the artistic research project Doubled Voiced: Poetics of Exchange (LUCA School of Arts/KU Leuven). In collaboration with Elephy.
Related links
Location
ARCA und Minard
Gent
Belgium
Gent
Belgium
Minard (Romain Deconinckplein 2) and ARCA (SintWidostraat 4, 9000 Gent)