Spring 2009

The Spring 2009 German Film Series:

"East Germany: Then and Now"

Location: B-4 Dwinelle Hall (basement level) at 6:00pm

All films are in German with English subtitles

Free and open to the public!

November 11, 2009
Sonnenallee (1999, 101 min.)
DIR Leander Haußmann, 1999, DVD, 88 min., color
Sonnenallee - a street in East Berlin with young people much like on the other side of the wall, but with forbidden music, forbidden dances and a love story that was meant to change the world. This humorous, satirical portrait of life in East Berlin before the wall came down features, among others, Katharina Thalbach, Henry Hübchen, Detlev Buck, and music by Nina Hagen, Die toten Hosen, Dynamo 5 and more.

November 18, 2009
The Wall
DIR Jürgen Böttcher, 1990, DVD, 96 min., color + b&w
An enduring record of the deconstruction of the border between East and West Germany THE WALL is a requiem to the very country filmmaker and painter Jürgen Böttcher was bound to for 40 years. This poetic and enigmatic masterpiece reflects the soul of Berlin, both before and as the Wall came down.

November 25, 2009
After the Fall (VHS)
DIR Frauke Sandig, 1999, VHS, 86 min., color
A light-hearted documentary about the disappearance of the Berlin wall. Contemporary witnesses include an American historian, a church minister in Berlin and a Bavarian demolition expert. The common tenor of all their statements is that the wall and its traces were eradicated too quickly and too radically with the intention of forgetting the past. Irrational Remains

December 2, 2009
My Wall (collection of short films)
Berlin Today Award, Short Film Competition 2009
DIR Five Directors, 2009, DVD, 59 min., color
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 2009, My Wall was chosen as the creative focus for the sixth edition of the Berlin Today Award - the short film competition of the Berlinale Talent Campus. Young directors had the unique opportunity to realize in collaboration with German production companies short films dealing with the Wall. German Endgame / Deutschland Spiel part 1 and part 2 (each almost two hours)

December 9, 2009
Irrational Remains
DIR Thorsten Trimpop, 2005, DVD, 95 min., color
In 1987, when they were 20 years old, Mathias and Susanne made an unsuccessful attempt to escape from the GDR while their best friend Suse remained in the country. The three did not meet again until sixteen years later, when they were involved in the filming of Thorsten Trimpop's touching documentary about friendship, politics and deep wounds.

December 16, 2009
Nikolaikirche
DIR Frank Beyer, 1995, 16mm, 133 min., color
Leipzig 1987: The individual gestures of revolt against the state are becoming more and more apparent. The Monday prayers in the Nikolaikirche are attended by an increasing number of people. The state reacts by trying to intimidate the people, expulsion from the party and other repressive measures. On 9 October 1989 the Leipzig citizens achieve a decisive victory. The head of Leipzig state security declares : "We have reckoned with many things, but not with candles and prayers!"

For more information contact Mason at mkallred@berkeley.edu (synopses and movie information from Goethe Institute's website)