My films are produced by TRAPART FILM. My main film hubs are my VIMEO page and TRAPART FILM’s YouTube ditto. The first gathers my own films and YouTube will contain both these and other films related to the activities on Highbrow Lowlife and Trapart (films by others, live clips from concerts etc). My Vimeo On Demand films can be found HERE, or in the trailer-links below. Enjoy! Please feel free to spread these links around as much as you want!
Would you like to screen and/or distribute any of my films? Easy. Just get in touch via the CONTACT page. Thank you!
RESEDUCTION
Sweden, 2022, 38 mins.
An intimate view in-between the lines of enforced eternity. What has once been will now be once again: a reseduction of the world in awaiting those sensual messages from yourself that you can usually see so clearly in the mirror. An undress rehearsal in slow motion – as slow as befits your fast-paced mind. Circular movements on straight lines, jumping up to the sky on your bare knees, opening up to corporeal closure. Please remember: it is an examination of absolutely nothing that will provide all of this and more. As in A More; as in Re Seduction.
GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE: WRITE YOUR OWN CODE
Sweden, 2021, 47 mins. Featuring Genesis Breyer P-Orridge
As Genesis and I were working on the documentary film “Change Itself” (released in 2016), we agreed that it would be great to also have Genesis reading poetry in the film. One clip was eventually used. “Write Your Own Code” contains all of the material we shot in Oslo, Norway, 2014. These sessions also became the creative ignition for the spoken word album we made together in 2017, and which was released in 2019 by Ideal Recordings: “Loyalty Does Not End With Death.” I have left the casual tone of the sessions, including some mishaps, as untouched as possible. Write Your Own Code! – Carl Abrahamsson, 2021
JAG ÄR SOM FLUGAN PÅ VÄGGEN – EN FILM OM LARS SUNDESTRAND
Sweden, 2020, 57 mins. Medverkande: Lars Sundestrand, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Annika von Hausswolff och Robert Hurula.
Genom sitt fanzine FUNTIME (1978-1983) blev fotografen Lars Sundestrand synonym med den tidens punk- eller “gör det själv”-anda och estetik. FUNTIME blev snabbt Sveriges mest kända och inflytelserika fanzine. Efter denna explosivt kreativa period jobbade Lars Sundestrand vidare som fotograf för en mängd dagstidningar, och även som teaterfotograf på Göteborgs Stadsteater, GöteborgsOperan, Västanå Teater och många fler. Under färdens gång har han gjort över 80 fotoböcker, bland annat om/med Ebba Grön, Throbbing Gristle, Hurula – och hela nio böcker om och med Freddie Wadling! Endast ett fåtal av dem har distribuerats eller ens visats upp.
I filmen JAG ÄR SOM FLUGAN PÅ VÄGGEN berättar Lars Sundestrand själv om vad som driver honom att skapa nya bilder och bokprojekt. Vänner som Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Annika von Hausswolff och Robert Hurula berättar också i filmen om samarbeten, inspirationer och om Lars Sundestrand som person.
ANTON LAVEY – INTO THE DEVIL’S DEN
Sweden, 2019, 106 mins.
In 1989, I met Anton LaVey for the first time. At this time in his life, LaVey was seeing only a select few people. For this film, I’ve met and interviewed some of them, to try and create a composite image of what he was really like, and what he meant to these people. It’s a memory lane trip, filled with personal stories, dark humor, great music and never before seen material with the “Black Pope” himself.
Anton LaVey was many things to many people: musician, magician, writer, wild animal trainer, police photographer, film buff, founder of a magical group, and possibly of a new religion, and yes… He was a Satanist. With his creation of the infamous Church of Satan in 1966, and his bestselling book The Satanic Bible in 1969, Anton LaVey changed the ballgame in many ways. Here was a free-spirited San Francisco based group neither in favour of mind-expanding drugs, nor of peace & love for its own sake. Here was a group that was decidedly, outspokenly anti-Christian. Here was a group that brought dark pro-sexual psychodrama and the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche straight into American living rooms and TV couches. Anton LaVey became a celebrity scapegoat who basked in the attention, and made a successful career out of it. But who was Anton LaVey behind the public persona that so easily provoked primitive American Christians and other intolerants? Who was this enigmatic “American Adversary”?
This film contains never before shown interview material with LaVey, private photographs, and rare recordings, plus in-depth interviews with Blanche Barton, Peter Gilmore, Peggy Nadramia, Bob Johnson, Kenneth Anger, Michael Moynihan, Mitch Horowitz, Ruth Waytz, Larry Wessel, Margie Bauer, Jack Stevenson, and Jim Morton.
MEMENTEROS
Sweden, 2019, 38 mins.
With textual cut-ups by Vanessa Sinclair, music by Carl Abrahamsson and a film to go with it by them both, MEMENTEROS is a miasmic and psychedelic journey into deep layers of erotic sincerity. Using old pornographic super 8 films as well as newly shot material, the couple delve into the unknown and present their findings in film form. The texts, the music, and the cinematic images are all part of a revolving cut-up; a fusion of desire, excitement and, ultimately, satisfaction.
POEMS ARE LIVING THINGS
Sweden, 2019, 24 mins.
A film about the making of the album “Loyalty Does Not End With Death” by Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Carl Abrahamsson.
CINEMAGICIAN – CONVERSATIONS WITH KENNETH ANGER
Sweden, 2019, 48 mins.
Iconic American filmmaker Kenneth Anger has inspired generations of creative storytellers since the late 1940s. He is a unique visionary who drifts from pure poetry within his magical filmmaking to sardonic gossip in his bestselling “Hollywood Babylon” books. In-between these extremes we find a person who never tires of exploring his own creativity. In this intimate documentary, Anger lets us in on his fascinating life story, his approaches to filmmaking, and his relationship to British occultist Aleister Crowley.
MY SILENT LIPS
Sweden, 2019, 82 min.
Young Swedish woman Alice travels with her abusive American boyfriend in the Balkans. As their relationship goes from bad to worse, Alice drifts more and more into an emotional void, which leads to violent repercussions. Lost in a strange land among bizarre characters, she’s forced to confront aspects of herself she’s utterly afraid of. As abuse and humiliations increase she no longer has a choice. Who will be the next victim? Alice herself or all of those who have ruthlessly exploited her?
Starring: Linn Sparrenborg, Robin Hayes, Robert Bolin, Thomas Gjutarenäfve, Katarzyna Jaskiewicz, Johan Hamrin, Stojan Nikolic, Vera Nikolic, Tea Shaldeva and Roy Sutherwood. Written, produced and directed by Carl Abrahamsson, Sweden 2019.
LUNACY
Sweden, 2017, 44 mins.
Words by Vanessa Sinclair. Music & Film by Carl Abrahamsson. Praising lunar forces and witches from all times and spaces, LUNACY acts as a conductor to emotional transcendence and illumination rather than to scientific analysis. The Moon is always there in various degrees of visibility to the human eye, but the power of Hecate and other lunar celebrities remains constant. It’s the only fact that’s relevant in the greater human scheme of things.
CHANGE ITSELF – AN ART APART: GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE
Sweden, 2016, 58 mins.
Written, narrated, produced and directed by Carl Abrahamsson. To sum up the life and work of British artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is close to impossible. Not only because of the wide range of artistic disciplines, but also because of the timespan, since the mid 1960s to the present day, that has been saturated by hundreds of records, thousands of concerts, exhibitions, interviews, videos, spoken word performances, collages, sculptures, philosophy, cultural engineering, occultism and radical transgender concepts. A couple of descriptions are still valid after these 50 years of active creativity and provocation. P-Orridge is a romantic existentialist and a cultural engineer. Everything is both work as such and seed for cultural and behavioural change.
THE MYSTERY OF LIFE – AN ART APART: GUSTAF BROMS
Sweden, 2016, 58 mins. Written, narrated, produced and directed by Carl Abrahamsson. Swedish artist Gustaf Broms has, since the early 1990s, developed a symbolic language in order to help him understand his own being. On an adventurous journey stretching over photography, filmmaking, sculpting, collaging, music making and on to performance art, his artworks and the process become pieces of a puzzle that constitute not only the human being called Gustaf Broms but also human life itself in general. The grand scale of Broms’ ambitions signals a willingness to share his highly experimental attitude and its findings with other people. Thus his persona as an artist grows into something more ambitious, yet at the same time more undefined. The multifaceted expressions of his work seem to contain the very same theme, the very same question: where exactly lies “self” in the human being? Who exactly are we and which tools do we need to find out?
SUB UMBRA ALARUM LUNA
Sweden, 2016, 60 mins.
Filmed, produced and directed by Carl Abrahamsson. Music by Cotton Ferox (Thomas Tibert, Joakim Karlsson-Kurén, Carl Abrahamsson). A tribute to Derek Jarman’s super-8-epic In the Shadow of the Sun(1975, with music by Throbbing Gristle, 1980).
ONCE THE TOOTHPASTE IS OUT OF THE TUBE – AN ART APART: CHARLES GATEWOOD
Sweden, 2015, 58 min.
American photographer Charles Gatewood started out in the 1960s as a young man with dreams of showing the world the radical cultural developments that were going on in his country. He met many of the iconic instigators of change and documented them for posterity. As the decades passed, Gatewood drifted more and more into a personal expression of sexual subcultures, both in America and abroad. His powerful photos of pioneers within the tattooing- and piercing scenes helped pave the way for the movement that was to be called “Modern Primitives”. It’s a classic example of when art, and in this example, specifically photography, merges with its general environment and takes on new forms that are impossible to stop. Or, as the San Francisco based photographer himself describes it: “Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, you can’t put it back”. Written, narrated and directed by Carl Abrahamsson.
NOTHING CAN TURN INTO A VOID – AN ART APART: PEOPLE LIKE US
Sweden, 2015, 58 min.
The second film in the AN ART APART series is called Nothing Can Turn Into A Void and focuses on the British artist Vicki Bennett and her project People Like Us. Her work takes you on a journey into a world where literally anything can happen. Using her skills as an editor and a great sense of humor, she lets you roam through a world of imagination filled with contrasts and chance encounters between the past and the present. In performances, video work, music and collages, Bennett conveys that nothing is really what it seems. Written, narrated and directed by Carl Abrahamsson.
INGENTING ÄR SANT, ALLTING ÄR MÖJLIGT – EN LITEN FILM OM FREDDIE WADLING
Sweden, 2015, 35 min.
Carl Abrahamsson and Freddie Wadling met in the 1980’s. They found each other through a shared interest in trash culture, the occult, music and, most of all, film. Their talks and three classic Blue for Two songs turned into the film Love Begins to Write a Book in 1988. 26 years later Abrahamsson and Wading recreate the whole thing, with the same questions and same songs. The result? A fascinating trip back in time through artistry and a presence that is cemented on the Swedish cultural scene. A celebration of Wadling’s unique creativity that has defied fate, death and various adventures, and that against all odds continues to brighten Swedish music completely on his own terms.
ASSORTED VIDEOS & FILMS
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge & Carl Abrahamsson: “Firefly’s Last Spark” (2019, 4 min.)
Promotional clip from/for the album “Loyalty Does Not End With Death” (Ideal Recordings, 2019)
COTTON FEROX: A MEGA GOLEM OFFICIAL
Video, 24 mins. 2014. This piece of music was commissioned for Vicki Bennett’s “Radio Boredcast” festival in 2011, and was released as a digital album by Highbrow Lowlife in 2013. The film was made during the autumn of 2013 and was screened for the first time at the Trans-Wizje festival in Warsaw on November 17th, 2013, as a backdrop to Cotton Ferox’ performance there.
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge & Cotton Ferox: “I Travel F-Side” Promotional video, 2013. 4 mins.
COTTON FEROX: “Phantasmoplasm” (2002) Promotional video featuring Krister Linder.
COTTON FEROX: “Volatile Eternity” (2002) Projection for live performances.
COTTON FEROX & GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE: “Times Change” (2004) Projection for live performances/Promotional video featuring the track made together with Thee Majesty/Genesis Breyer P-Orridge.
COTTON FEROX & GENESIS BREYER P-ORRIDGE: “A Psychic Scent” (2007) Promotional video featuring the track made together with Thee Majesty/Genesis Breyer P-Orridge.
“Imaginär koherens” Video, 5 minutes, 2010. Music by Understen. Life is one great spinning experience, and this is one small section of it. I have made my choice – I walk with the sun, deosils, as that makes most sense for me. The music here is by Understen and the instrument used is a zither, a beautiful instrument of the future.
“Omegahanen” Video, 5 minutes, 2010. Music by Sinnelag. This is an ode to joy, ethnopluralistic ethos, peripathetic pathos, voyeuristic asexuality, bright lights, big cities, hot summers, heterogenous cultures and the diversity of the dubious density of our ego-inflated times. Let out some psychic steam and let the multicoloured inner lights shine bright in the night!
“Pollen av aska” Video, 4 minutes, 2010. Music by Sinnelag. This is a film to accompany the track “Pollen av aska” from Sinnelag’s debut album “Själabränning”. Or maybe it’s vice versa? Needless to say, this film is about the seemingly endless human struggle and the small victories we occasionally stumble upon. Humility on a grand scale!
“Returbiljetten – Ej giltig!” Video, 13 minutes, 2010. Music byUndersten & Sylvie Walder. A sentimental journey into the future, letting go of old dust and amassing some new specks. Wherever we go, the surroundings are exactly the same. If we’re lucky, the perceptions may change. If we’re unlucky, they may change too but then the surroundings become sentimental and the future is a dusty journey still. Wherever we go, we let go of new specks and amass exactly the same… Sentimental dust.
“Synaptic Humiliation” Video, 10 minutes, 2008. Music by Cotton Ferox. A sketch that was later developed into “Returbiljetten – Ej Giltig!”
“Exformation (Electric Sunshine Remix)” Video, 4 minutes, 2008. Music by Sinnelag. Projections abound! Sunshine, chlorophyllic saturation, overheated neurotransmitters and an acute awareness of myhtological potential… “ZAP! You’re zonked! That’s witchcraft” (in a nutshell)… Galatea weaves a spell but it’s all one great big illusion and when you wake up the sun is still shining… Projections abound!
“The Tibetan Mind” Video, 18 minutes, 1998. Made together with Henrik Møll, Max Fredrikson, Henrik Bogdan and Peder Byberg. An audiovisual spell for an auspicious development of the Tibetan cause according to the wishes of the Tibetan leadership and HH The Dalai Lama. Produced by The Institute of Comparative Magico-anthropology in 1998 and presented for the first time in 2010.
UNION CARBIDE PRODUCTIONS – “The Golden Age” Super-8, 5 minutes, 1991. Starring Union Carbide Productions.
WHITE STAINS – “Dreams shall flesh” Super-8, 5 minutes, 1991.
WHITE STAINS – “Ov like mind” Super-8, 5 minutes, 1991.
WHITE STAINS – “Take it from me” Super-8, 5 minutes, 1991.
WHITE STAINS – “Cocktail Pussycat” Super-8, 4 minutes, 1991.
WHITE STAINS & PSYCHICK TV – “Thee Tarot Ov Abomination” Super-8, 10 minutes, 1990. Starring White Stains & Psychick TV.
“Soft Explosion” Super-8, 5 minutes, 1989. Music by White Stains.
“Nela Chela” Super-8, 9 minutes, 1989. Music by White Stains. Starring Anna-Lena Karlsson.
“Überwelt – Unterwelt” 16 mm, 15 minutes, 1991. Music by White Stains.
WHITE STAINS – “Pyramidos” Super-8, 23 minutes, 1989. Projected during the White Stains concert at Hultsfred 1989.
KARKOWSKI: “Hagapromenad” 16 mm, 4 minutes, 1990. Silent. 2014 digital version features music by Karkowski.
UNION CARBIDE PRODUCTIONS: “I want more” Super-8, 25 minutes, 1988. Direct sound. Starring Union Carbide Productions.
BLUE FOR TWO: “Love begins to write a book” Super-8, 25 minutes, 1988. Direct sound. Starring Freddie Wadling.
THE STOMACHMOUTHS Super-8, 25 minutes, 1988. Direct sound. Starring The Stomachmouths.
THE STOMACHMOUTHS Super-8, 3 minutes, 1987. Silent. Starring The Stomachmouths.
THE CREEPS Super-8, 6 minutes, 1988. Silent. Starring The Creeps.