cultural education and audiovisual storytelling

Portrait: Simon Schultz
Portrait: Simon Schultz

bio

Hi, my name is Simon Schultz, I am a cultural producer and audiovisual creator based in Hamburg. I studied video art history and performative practice at Hildesheim University and Harvard University.

My current personal work mostly deals with queer community building, film and theatre history as well as affective economies. Over the years my projects have been screened at international film festivals like Mix Brazil São Paulo, transcreen Amsterdam, International Queer Film Festival Hamburg, Pornfilmfestival Berlin and Outfest Fusion Festival Los Angeles.

Along with my personal work, I work as a freelance cultural educator and researcher on inter*national commissioned projects. Recent collaborations have been with Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Kampnagel Hamburg, Eurocadres Brussels, Schwules Museum Berlin, and Hamburger Kunsthalle.

performance

·

ドイツカラオケ研究所 / Deutsches Institut für Karaokeforschung / German Karaoke Research Institute · performance · Zao, Miyagi, Japan · April 2023


performance

·

Das Medikament · live-stream performance · Kampnagel Hamburg · April/May 2021


exhibition

·

Ich bin ganz sicher schon einmal hier gewesen · group exhibition with Misstress Morgana, Gitte Schmitz, and Carlton Morgan · raum links rechts Hamburg · February/March 2021

video

·

Film still: Oh, Mamma!

Oh, Mamma! · 4min, digital

Collaboration with Amanda Wader-Unterwasser and Hannes Siebert. · Commission for Rabenmuttertag by Dyane Prozac, in co-production with Kampnagel Hamburg.
Hamburg, Germany · May 2021

·

Film still: Himmel Über Wasser

I Am Holy Spirit · 16min, digital

As the high priestess of the goddess Gaya, Kuku Schrapnell sends messages to all gays and the universe. In convenient Instagram format, the messages serve to improve the world, where gays too can finally perform the truly best version of themselves - through ecosex. Kuku goes all out in ecstasy and enthusiasm for her message, the military sign language Wig Wag sets the scene for efficiency, dedication and enthusiasm.
Hamburg, Germany · September 2020

·

Film still: Himmel Über Wasser

Breathing Became a Hard Thing to Do · 6min, digital

"Pressure on my shoulders, on my chest. My throat is tight and sore. Everything is a matter of time. Breathing in, breathing out. The air is hot and humid. I breathed heavily for 23 minutes. This is way longer that 8'46" are. I need to calm down, but I cannot. My skin feels tingly from blood pushing through capillary vessels. My body is a vessel in the sea of powers. Dragging me up and down, burying me in brutal waves, asphyxiating. Breathing became hard. Maybe it has always been this way. Already from the beginning. I just couldn't feel it." · Commission for Maison Dora Maar and CoART19.
Menérbes, France · August 2020

·

Film still: Himmel Über Wasser

Factory of Fun · live video animation

Sex Toys on the Holodeck. In a digital reconstruction of the immersive installation "Factory of the Sun" by Hito Steyerl, sex toys and headlines of dating profiles are on display. In the original, the protagonists are trapped in a video game, their movements transformed into artificial sunlight. Factory of fun transports this space back into the digital realm refering to another kind of game from which there seems to be just no escape. That what is desired is a virtual fiction, the space emerges from the non-fulfillment of the promise, as desire of desire.
Hamburg, Germany · March 2020

·

Family of Kink · 15min, digital

For individuals that experienced loss, disownment, and expulsion, kinship has a specific meaning and importance. Reframing the concept of family, queer people build a strong community mapping future social bonds. This experimental short is an assemblage of interpersonal situations, focusing on gestures of bonding.
Hamburg, Germany · September 2018

·

Film still: Himmel Über Wasser

Himmel über Wasser · 4min, digital

In 1978 José Agrippino de Paula and Maria Esther Stockler produced "Ceu sobre agua". In inner exile from the military dictatorship, they look at their home in Bahia. Hypnotic frames, details of bodies, sky, water, and a repetitive soundtrack are their tools. Four decades later, Gitte Schmitz is looking for an actualization. Boiling down the film from 20 to four minutes, she substitutes Bahia's nature with an industrial utility area on the river Elbe. A European echo to Brazilian Tropicália.
Hamburg, Germany · July 2018

·

play it again, sistergold! · 3min, digital

Interviewing the musical quartet Sistergold, this short film humorously conveys the musicians' passion for Saxophone. An instrument that “expresses power and freedom” being able to “let the energy flow from Earth’s center into the body.“ Collaboration with Gwendolen van der Linde, Winner of the Summerwinds Festival Cinema Award 2016, Münster.
Hildesheim, Germany · September 2016

·

Film still: Dancer as Insurgent

Dancer as Insurgent · 18min, digital

Benjamin Hart is a Chicago based dancer and activist. Growing up as a Queer of Color in New York he found his home in the Ballroom Scene. Voguing as a danceform had a big impact not only on his approach to movement and dancing. It also plays a big role in his life in terms of body politics as well as artistic and activist practice. This artist portrait looks at his use of Voguing as method of radical emancipation and social justice education.
Hildesheim, Germany · September 2015

·

Film still: Second Hand

Second Hand · 5min, 16mm

A performer is getting ready to float. His tools are: shaving cream, black paint, and tweezers.
Cambridge, MA · April 2015

·

Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP) Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP) · 11min, digital

For ten years, Chris Wilde, Milo Miller, and their team have collected and scanned queer fan zines from around the globe. Their online archive "Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP)" is the result of their community effort to make queer knowledge accessible for everyone.
Berlin, Germany · August 2013

·

trans*march · 5min, digital

The 10th annual trans*march took place on June 28th 2013 in San Francisco, CA. As the most politicized of the three marches during pride week in San Francisco it has a tradition of raising visibility of trans*-people and their issues. This short documentary is a collection of queer voices during the trans*march 2013 and reflects parts of the recent discussions concerning the trans*- and LGBT-movement. Collaboration with Greg Greene.
Toronto, Canada · June 2013

contact

Simon Schultz - Atelier
Caffamacherreihe 39
20355 Hamburg
Germany

twitter: @ gitteschmitz
mail: hello simonschultz.net