ifs-Begegnung Gender & Diversity mit »Life Is Not a Competition, But I'm Winning«

In the organizer's words:

"Life Is Not a Competition, But I'm Winning"

Documentary film, D 2023, 79 min., OmeU, German subtitles; Director: Julia Fuhr Mann

Followed by a film discussion with director Julia Fuhr Mann, moderated by Dr. Maxa Zoller (Artistic Director IFFF)

In hardly any other area of society is the binary gender system upheld as much as in sport. The basis of high physical performance leads to binary categories, which Julia Fuhr Mann has set herself the task of undermining, both figuratively and literally, with her award-winning
graduation film. The trans* marathon runner Amanda Reiter from Lenggries in Bavaria and the Ugandan 800-metre runner Annet Negesa are at the heart of this story about restrictive gender concepts in competitive sport and the attempt to break free from them, alongside many other athletes.

The director does not conform to conservative gender conventions or common film genres and thus develops a new hybrid format. The essayistic documentary interweaves archive film with performative elements and documentary material, which was expressively designed by DoP Caroline Spreitzenbart. What makes the film unique are the fluid transitions from found footage excerpts, such as footage from the 1928 Olympic Games, to scenes from the present, in which a 'choir' of non-binary athletes discuss, train and demonstrate together. This creates a queer understanding of time that is not rigid and linear, but dynamic and multidimensional.

"Life Is Not a Competition, But I'm Winning" is a visually powerful statement about breaking out of the norms of binary thinking.
Winning film National Competition for Image Creators IFFF Dortmund+Cologne 2024.

In order to stimulate discussion on the topic of gender and diversity, the series regularly shows selected feature and documentary films as well as experimental works and introduces their makers in a subsequent discussion. An event of the International Women's Film Festival Dortmund+Cologne (IFFF) in cooperation with the ifs International Film School Cologne as part of the Filmforum NRW e. V.