© JUERGEN BALDIGA
BALDIGA
ENTSICHERTES HERZ
Director—Markus Stein
Documentary, DE 2024—92min—18+
German original version
Ruthless, poetic documentation of the work of photographer and AIDS activist Jürgen Baldiga.
West Berlin, 1979. Jürgen Baldiga moves to the city and wants to become an artist. He works as a hustler and cook, writes poems and a diary. Since his HIV infection, photography has become his form of artistic expression. He wants to use it to stop time and capture reality, moving between despair and desire, rebellion and an irrepressible will to survive. Baldiga not only captures his companions, his lovers, wild sex and life on the street, but also impressively documents Berlin‘s gay subculture in the 80s and early 90s.
Director Markus Stein uses Baldiga‘s poetic diaries and unsparing images to create a grippingly authentic portrait of a pioneering artist and committed fighter against the stigmatization of gay lifestyles.
© JUERGEN BALDIGA