HEATHERS intervened performatively in the SLASH Film Festival 2022. In four performances and other artistic interventions, they examined the cinema hall of the Filmcasino and the Hermannbad in the 7th district for their own everyday horror. They took a critical feminist look at the films shown at the festival and encouraged the programming of horror films directed by women*. Two of the proposed films

were included into the program (Piggy, Sissy).

Performances and interventions at the Filmcasino (09/23 /

09/25 / 09/26 / 09/27/2022):

The four performances shown at the Filmcasino made reference to the respective subsequently screened horror films by female* directors and to the HEATHERS questions formulated in the project submission. In them, the three HEATHERS embodied the ultimate supporting actress* in horror film and put her in the spotlight:

Piggy: HEATHERS demonstrated various camera-ready ways of death and shared their career experiences as a feminist empowerment story in the live song Three Little Heathers. Here, the film‘s empowerment motif was echoed.

Huesera: In a pool party setting known from slasher films, HEATHERS presented a live sound performance inspired by Foley Artists (dubbing of sounds): (sounds based on the sonic leitmotif of Huesera: the breaking of bones) and visibly appropriated a still male* dominated backstage profession.

Sissy: HEATHERS presented in teleshopping manner beginner* suitable killing tools (doll, wig, varnish). This also in reference to Sissy‘s self-promotion in the film.

Good Madam: The cinema hall was dominated by

by a doll installation consisting of one doll per cinema seat. The audience was personally guided to their seats by the three HEATHERS. Accompanying questions and statements served to question the justification for taking a seat. A commissioned photographer took group photos of the visitors* with their puppets, which were projected on the screen in real time. These elements echoed the importance of dolls, family portraits, and the definition of family in the film Good Madam. The racialized hierarchization and allocation of space in the white madam‘s home vis-.-vis her Black staff was translated for the white majority cinema audience into the very impetus to reflect on space. As announced in the original concept, in the four Filmcasino performances the supporting actresses* elevated to protagonists* left the respective crime scenes as Final Girls.

Further interventions:

Vagina-Dentata drop boxes with questionnaires in the foyers of Filmcasino and Metro cinema.

Showcase design: trophies with award categories geared toward supporting actresses* (e.g., Best Mom on the phone, Award for first Black female* survivor), Heathers movie poster, and audio track announcing award categories.

Curtain Installation Restrooms: Two pink beaded curtains were installed in both restrooms in the passageway area as a reference to Sissy and Piggy, interrupting the routine. Good-audience sound intervention in the foyer starting 30 minutes before admission; a reference to the meditation in the opening sequence of „Sissy,“ cast by HEATHERS between audience praise and abuse.

HEATHERS‘ merch: posters, autograph cards, buttons with Heathers emojis, chains.