Two films by Swedish documentary filmmakers Lennart Malmer and Ingela Romare have found their way into the Arsenal collection thanks to the "Visionary Archive"in project: EN NATIONS FÖDELSE (Birth of a Nation, Sweden 1973) and VREDENS POESI (Poetry of Anger, Sweden 1978).

The central moment of EN NATIONS FÖDELSE is Guinea-Bissau’s unilateral declaration of independence on September 24, 1973, when the state was officially founded. VREDENS POESI blends fiction and documentary to create a personal report of Malmer’s recollections of those years.

Claude Sautet (1924-2000) was a loner in French cinema who put his ideas of classical narrative film into practice in parallel to the Nouvelle Vague. François Truffaut called him the "most French director of all". This has to do perhaps with the fact that the bistro plays such an important role in Sautet’s films, in which characters eat and drink and drive together and which are about the possibilities of love, surely the theme that is most associated with French cinema. Eschewing the spectacular, Sautet made differentiated studies of human relationships. His films about friendship and love were full of poetic melancholy that featured the greatest stars of the time: Lino Ventura, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Romy Schneider, Michel Piccoli, Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Sandrine Bonnaire, Daniel Auteuil, Emmanuelle Béart.

From the time of his artistic and commercial breakthrough LES CHOSES DE LA VIE (1970), Sautet was considered a chronicler of the French middle class. However, in contrast to Claude Chabrol or Luis Buñuel, he was not interested in showing up the bourgeoisie. His "portraits in movement", as he called them, are free of judgmental superiority. He emphatically reveals what is not alive in supposedly secure bourgeois society and views the tender-hearted attempts to escape it with tender regret. Soberly, with reserve and without resorting to psychological analysis, he unpretentiously follows the fates of his protagonists as they get entangled in feelings and relationships. Featuring discreet imagery, the films are about missed opportunities, feelings not acted upon, journeys of self-discovery, love affairs that end and begin. Loneliness is often contrasted with the superficial warmth of groups and public spaces. Plot is not the driving force of these films which are more about precise observation and about the revelation of feelings that go beyond the narrative, nuances, looks, gestures, daily existence, the things of life.

Not long before his death, Sautet re-edited his films, shortening some of them by several minutes. For the sake of comparison, we will be showing two versions of the three films VINCENT, FRANÇOIS, PAUL … ET LES AUTRES, LES CHOSES DE LA VIE and MADO - the 35mm version from when the films were released and the shortened digital director's cuts.

An immeasurable amount of lost or incomplete films are hidden in the shadows of film history. Databases, websites and campaigns of all kinds bear witness to the major efforts of institutions and individuals to make visible again single films that once fell victim to political upheaval, natural disaster, material fatigue or simply lack of attention. With 11 films, the Magical History Tour presents stories about seeking and (chance) finding.

On the occasion of the "Fassbinder – NOW" exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, every Monday until mid-August we will present a film from the rich oeuvre of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who would have turned 70 this year. Even 33 years after his death, an unabated sense of pertinence emanates from his work. As a chronicler of German history and society, he examined the structures that enable people to oppress others, as well as the emotional exploitation in intimate relationships and their dependence on economic conditions.

We present three films by former Villa Aurora fellows to celebrate 20 years since the villa became an artists' residence and place for transatlantic encounters. Afterwards, there will be a discussion with each of the respective directors. The screenings will take place within the context of the CHECKPOINT CALIFORNIA anniversary exhibition running at the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle from 12th to 28th June.