Michael Bogar

Movies

Kings of Kallstadt
Co-Producer
What do real estate tycoon Donald Trump and the Heinz Tomato Ketchup dynasty have in common? Their ancestors come from Kallstadt, a small, quiet winegrowing village in the German Palatinate region. This powerful entrepreneurial spirit must be part of the genetic make-up! Director Simone Wendel-also from Kallstadt-explores the issue in depth.
No Gravity
Producer
The film opens with images of the Ariane 5 launch base in the jungle of French Guyana. Then a weightless frog in space, tropical plants mixed with technological models of the Star City in Moscow, an iguana in the role of Donna Haraway's cyborg and the incredible archival images of space agencies around the world. "No Gravity" is a film between science and fiction, seen from a queer, lesbian and feminist point of view.
Children of the Decree
Editor
Procreation is the social duty of all fertile women, was the political thinking during the 1960s and 1970s in Romania. In 1966, Ceaucescu issued Decree 770, in which he forbade abortion for all women unless they were over forty or were already taking care of four children. All forms of contraception were totally banned. The New Romanian Man was born. By 1969, the country had a million babies more than the previous average. Romanian society was rapidly changing. By using very interesting archival footage and excerpts from old fiction films and by interviewing famous personalities from that time – gynecologists or mothers who were part of the new society - the director revives this period of tremendous oppression of personal freedom. Many deaths were caused by the mere fact that women, including wives of secret Romanian agents, famous TV presenters, and actresses, had to undergo illegal abortions. Many women were jailed for having them.