The film program Fugitive Traces: Challenging Narratives and Power Structures explores the politics of images, the ethics of filmmaking, and the power dynamics embedded in film history and production. The selected films challenge dominant narratives, offering alternative perspectives that resonate with the 13th Berlin Biennale’s curatorial concept of fugitivity—the capacity of art to establish its own laws in defiance of oppressive structures. In a climate of fear, such structures function seamlessly, compelling the oppressed to develop creative strategies to bypass the systemic obstacles they face. This act of foxing—a subversive play of evasion and resistance—becomes a commitment to artistic autonomy and the defiance of unjust norms. Through humor, subtlety, and critical reflection, the films in this program disrupt conventional storytelling, expose exploitative practices, and reclaim marginalized narratives, turning cinema into a space of resistance and liberation. 

A landmark of New Queer Cinema, The Watermelon Woman (directed by Cheryl Dunye, USA 1996, 84 minutes, English) is both a playful as well as a radical intervention into film history. Cheryl Dunye, who stars as herself, embarks on a journey to uncover the forgotten legacy of a fictional Black lesbian actress from the 1930s, known only as “The Watermelon Woman.” Blending fiction and documentary, the film critiques the erasure of Black queer voices in cinema while asserting the importance of self-representation. Dunye challenges dominant historical narratives, exposing the gaps and silences in the archive, while simultaneously crafting a space for Black lesbian identity on screen.

Cheryl Dunye is a Liberian-American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress. Dunye’s work often concerns themes of race, sexuality, and gender, particularly issues relating to black lesbians.