Toil of Three Cities/Liebesmueh2012

Music: Charlie Morrow, DJ Robeat, Matthew Lee Knowles, Virgil Segal, Brandstifter. Language: English with some translated German. Shot in New York, London and Berlin, this experimental documentary performance narrative is a tongue-in-cheek video fable that tells the tale of an artist struck by the extreme, sustained physical exertion of ordinary workmen. She seeks meaning in her own life by searching for the reasons behind their seeming enjoyment of "backbreaking work for the pleasure of others." She decides to practice yoga to strengthen her own body and open her heart, but feels inadequate to the task, so she sets out on a quest to find a guru-worker to tell her why they work so hard. Feeling guilty that her own heart is not so pure, she tries to avoid detection and arrest, but that inevitably happens. While in prison she meets 12 hard-working prostitutes who do manage to open her heart, then 4 little girls show us what is and is not valued as labor in contemporary society. By the end, the construction worker's words of wisdom provide a surprising insight that can only exist in Rosenthal's absurdist universe, which, of course, tells much about our own. Includes evocative, powerful original jazz and experimental music by Charlie Morrow and four other composers, additional text, video, audio and performance by DJ RoBeat, Super-8 footage by Bill Creston, and images from Rosenthal's extensive library. Premiered at Directors Lounge Internationall Film Festival, Berlin, Feb. 2012. LIMITED EDITION OF 30 SIGNED/NUMBERED