About

There are more niche, arthouse cinemas in various capacities in Berlin than elsewhere in Germany, including several generously funded cultural institutions committed to working on international film history. There are even cinemas that still regularly screen time- and cost-intensive 35mm and 16mm projection prints. Nonetheless, screenings of the highs and lows of the extreme cinema genres on the big screen are rare at best.

The Berlin based cine-collective 'Zelluloid Zweiundvierzig' (or 'Z42') is dedicated to such 'nasty' cinema. Z42's first impact was an event series called 'Pleasure Dome – a monthly analogue-only double-feature screening of cinema's perverted side' in the historic, state-of-the-art Filmrauschpalast in Berlin Moabit.

Z42 is passionate about cinema that is thought-provoking, offensive and at times simply filthy. Films that consume and devour their spectators, that provoke and shift perspectives in the present zeitgeist – as long as they are committed to engaging with the material. Cult classics and hidden gems of exploitation, horror and erotic cinema are just as much a part of our repertoire as films long forgotten or shunned in the underground.

Our programme concept is curated to reach newcomers to extreme cinema as well as the hard-boiled, basement-dwelling cinema buffs, and we always present our films with a contextual introduction to the screened material. Where possible, we prioritise analogue prints and original-language versions.

In addition to the films themselves, we as a collective strive for the best possible cinematic experience – to show them in all their raw, unpolished glory, as they were once presented in the notorious adult theatres along New York's 42nd Street that gave our collective its name.

Come and enter a nightmare-fuelled screening room of transgression. We look forward to seeing you!

Long Live the Pleasure Dome.