What on earth has been happening to Arte Trash? Without any information it’s been jumping from day to day, on different slots to boost. Here’s an update from August onwards.
AUGUST
Fri 6: Alucarda
A young girl’s arrival at a convent after the death of her parents marks the beginning of a series of events that unleash an evil presence on the girl and her mysterious new friend, an enigmatic figure known as Alucarda. Demonic possession, Satan worship, and vampirism follows.
Fri 13: Bubba Ho-Tep
Elvis and JFK, both alive and in nursing homes, fight for the souls of their fellow residents as they battle an ancient Egyptian Mummy.
Thu 19: Sympathy for the Devil
Jean-Luc Godard films the Rolling Stones. Part of the “Summer of the 60s” season.
Thu 26: Les Idoles
Part of the “Summer of the 60s” season. Gigi la folle, the wrongly innocent sweet blonde played by Bulle Ogier, was inspired by pop singer France Gall, whereas Charlie le surineur, played by a wild Pierre Clémenti, is more or less Johnny Hallyday: a supposed natural-born rebel, in fact a totally artificial marketing produce. Jean-Pierre Kalfon, the last of the idols, plays a dishevelled and mystic palm reader 
turned into a frantic singer, a compromise between the Beatles under their indian period and a bunch of psychedelic bands such as they existed then. The three of them dance and sing all along like roaring lions, giving a very impressive performance of raw pop power. The portrait director Marc’o gives of the French youth on the eve of May 1968 is of a world seething in unrest, reading supposed rebellion orders on the lips of their teen idols. (adapted from an IMDb review)
SEPTEMBER
Fri 3: Lions Love
Agnes Varda directed this fascinating cinema verte like fictional film in 1969. The film traces Gerome Ragnai and James Rado (the composers of HAIR) and Andy Warhol actress Viva as they try to break into the Hollywood lifestyle. American feminist icon filmmaker Shirley Clarke is featured in an extended role, also playing a fictionalized version of herself. Clarke is attempting to get studio financing for a film project that seems to be consciously satirizing the struggles Varda must have had in getting this film made. This film is funny, beautifully shot and imaginatively edited. It is a must see for fans of Varda and the French New Wave. (taken from the IMDb)
Thu 9: This Filthy Earth
The tragic story of two sisters whose lives are disrupted by two men. Amidst a landscape of rural hardship and a community consumed with superstition, events unfurl which threaten their sibling bond.
According to Arte, Andrew Kötting places himself next to Lars von Trier, John Boorman and Pasolini with his debut movie. Poetic and powerful trash.
Thu 16: Tokyo Drifter
In this free-jazz gangster film, reformed killer “Phoenix” Tetsu drifts around Japan, awaiting his own execution until he’s called back to Tokyo to help battle a rival gang. Seijun Suzuki’s “barrage of aestheticised violence, visual gags, [and] mind-warping color effects” got him in more trouble with Nikkatsu studio heads, who had ordered him to “play it straight this time.” Instead he gave them equal parts Russ Meyer, Samuel Fuller, and Nagisa Oshima.
Thu 23: Calamari Union
Finnish film Calamari Union by Aki Kaurismäki is not at all a motion picture with a defined setting, but more of a visual experience with surreal touches which must be seen many times to feel the plight of hapless rock musicians in an urban milieu. The band exists of 14 people, 13 of which are called Frank.
Thu 30: Les Lèvres Rouges
Watch out: this starts at the later hour of 01:10! But try and stay awake for this Belgian cult classic by director Harry Kümel. You may know this film under its English title, Daughters of Darkness.
A newlywed couple are passing through a vacation resort. Their paths cross with a mysterious, strikingly beautiful countess and her aide.
OCTOBER
Oct 7: Macuaima
Based on the 1928 book by Mário de Andrade, the modern-day parable follows the misadventures of a black man who is miraculously born to an old woman, who is supposed to be of the indigenous peoples of Brasil, in the jungles of the Amazon. Though born fully-grown, he has the heart of a playful child. After the death of his mother, he comes face to face with a spring that turns him white. With that change, he and his two brothers move to Rio de Janeiro, but are interrogated by street terrorists upon their arrival.
ARTE says: “A radical and excentric take on a Brazilian classic novel.”
No ARTE Trash on Oct 14, but on October 21 a German comedy, Johnny Flash, is scheduled.
Experimental filmmaker Werner Nekes describes in this, his first comedy, the extraordinary career of the pop king of the Ruhr, “Johnny Flash”. This obstinate offspring of the Potzkothen family succeeds in becoming, thanks to the unflagging support of his mother, his manager and „that girl at Music Satellite“ a celebrated pop star. In the final sequence of this satire on show business and mother-son-love, Johnny and his mama wander off into an uncertain horizon, just as Charlie Chaplin once did at the end of his films …
Avenue Kurtodrome 