Name: Ottinger's Berlin Trilogy: Ticket of No Return
Start: 2025-10-01T20:00:00+01:00
Location: Dove Street South, Bristol

Ottinger's Berlin Trilogy: Ticket of No Return

(Bildnis einer Trinkerin)
Dir: Ulrike Ottinger, 1979, West Germany, 107 mins, German language with English subtitles, Cert: 18 (CTBA)
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Wed 1 October // 20:00
Tickets: £5
A mysterious woman arrives in West Berlin with one singular, glamorous goal: to drink herself into oblivion.
In this hypnotic visually striking anti-odyssey, a glamorous, unnamed woman (played by and dressed by the fabulous Tabea Blumenschein) arrives in Berlin with a mission: to drink herself into oblivion. She floats from bar to bar, attracting onlookers, voyeurs, and moralists, accompanied by a Greek chorus spouting statistics about alcoholism, adding a darkly humorous and surreal layer to this unique character study. What unfolds is a bold takedown of gendered judgement, social control, and cinematic convention, all filtered through Ottinger’s signature eye for spectacle.
Featuring unforgettable cameos from figures like Nina Hagen and Eddie Constantine, Berlin becomes both setting and subject in this fiercely feminist, absurdist portrait of isolation and excess. One of Ottinger’s most accessible and visually striking works and a perfect entry point into her world.
“One of the most inventive and underrated filmmakers of the 20th century.” – Slant Magazine
*"I saw it when I was 19, and it had a decisive influence on me in wanting to become a filmmaker... It's the boldness of the way she made that film." - Joanna Hogg
Step into the vibrant, subversive world of Ulrike Ottinger, a visionary of the German New Wave and a true original of queer cinema. This October, we bring her acclaimed Berlin Trilogy to the big screen: a mesmerising journey through Cold War-era Berlin, reimagined as a surreal playground for sexual misfits, time travelers, and glamorous outcasts.
With lavish production design, camp flair, and fearless performances, Ottinger’s films are cathartic expressions of feminine experience, blending radical social commentary with deliriously entertaining cinematic spectacle. Still as bold and boundary-pushing as ever, her vision invites both Ottinger newcomers and long-time admirers to be captivated by her unique vision.