Albertina Carri presents the German translation of her first novel, published by Merve Verlag.
Lo que aprendí de las bestias is about a woman who returns to the countryside when her sister moves into their parents’ house with her daughters. This opens the door to repressed memories of a childhood marked by violence and loss. In sometimes surreal images, Albertina Carri explores the tension between trauma, desire and the will to survive. Between human and animal, victim and perpetrator, a radical reflection unfolds on the body, memory and the fragility of family ties in Argentina, a country traumatised by military dictatorship.
Director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, festival organiser, curator, and – with her debut ‘Lo que aprendí de las bestias’ – now also author. Albertina Carri has made feature films about incest (Géminis), violence in rural areas (La rabia) and empowerment in lesbian desire (Las hijas del diablo). She has produced more than 20 melodramas, investigative documentaries, animated films, agitprop films, television series and feminist porn. For her, formats, techniques and media are not ends in themselves, but always means of addressing uncomfortable topics in uncomfortable ways.
The reading will be moderated by Uta Felten, Professor of Romance Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Leipzig, who is not only a proven expert on the work of Albertina Carri, but also translated the novel.