It was with great sadness that my having to return to Australia because of a family crisis, that I could only watch from afar instead of participating as originally planned, the final celebrations over the past weeks of a very special place’s “physical closure” Schwelle7. The space that I visited for the first time in 2014, made so many wonderful friends and fell in love with Berlin.
Now as I read posts of friends personal thoughts, memories and the life changing significance this space and community has brought to them, has made me reminisce with heartfelt love and gratitude in just how much Schwelle7, it’s members and the city of Berlin has allowed me and that part of me that was repressed and suppressed for most of my life…to open up, acknowledge, embrace and nurture the very parts of me that I was too afraid and too ashamed to explore for fear of being judged and deemed to be deviant and abhorrent in the “eyes” of societies perceived norm in regards to sex and sexuality.
Schwelle7 and it’s community has left an indelible mark (and many glorious, fleeting ones along the way ) on me, my life, my psyche and my work as a film maker.
It is only fitting that all of the performers in my next 2 short films and a documentary that are in postproduction and will be ready to be released in a few months to a worldwide audience through the film festival circuit and various platforms of distribution, are members of this Schwelle7 community, showcasing their talents in topics that I’ve wanted to explore personally.
I’m also very excited to be in current talks, with various deliciously gorgeous friends that I’ve met through Schwelle7, to produce more films when I return later in the year, with themes that may have been difficult to tackle, if we all didn’t have our backgrounds and experiences so firmly and positively entrenched in the space called Schwelle7. I will be dedicating these series of films to Schwelle7 as a tribute to all that Schwelle7 has given to so many others and me.
I look forward to the possibility of a new space manifesting in the not too distant future…. the spirit of Schwelle7 will always live on through it’s community.
