Cinema Archive Detail

September 2011
"The Formative Years" in New York
On September 20, we will be opening the "Formative Years" exhibition at the Goethe Institute’s Wyoming Building, which comprises an installation of seven films by Heinz Emigholz from the period 1972–77. Following the premiere at the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart as part of the 2010 Forum Expanded, the exhibition could later be seen at Extra City in Antwerp. The Anthology Film Archive will also be presenting a full retrospective of Heinz Emigholz’s films starting on September 21 to coincide with the exhibition.
September 2011
Upheaval and Diversity – The Moroccan Film Days
Morocco was in the grip of upheaval long before it too came into the focus of the current protests in North Africa. For a good 20 years now, a reform process combined with a new openness has been in progress with an emphasis on increased opportunities for social and political participation on the part of the individual. This shift has also been reflected in art and culture, with concerns such as the need to come to terms with the history of political prisoners in Morocco, the life of street children, women’s rights, the dismantling of patriarchal structures, rampant corruption, the relationship to the Jewish minority and to Berber culture, migration and many young people's dream of a better life across the Strait of Gibraltar all being addressed.
September 2011
Magical History Tour – Voice, Language & Speech in Film
For the second time, the Magical History Tour is dedicated to the subject of voice, language and speech in cinema. The powerful role played by the voice in film does not just become apparent due to acoustic characteristics, the tone of the actors' voices and the seeming unity they form with the cinematic image but also makes itself particularly felt when both voice and language stand in contrast to these images and diverge from them. It is this type of formal tension that represents the underlying idea and starting point for the plots of many of the films we will be presenting in this series. Linguistic playfulness, our desire to speak, excessive use of the voice, particular stylization techniques and the conflict between different registers and styles of speech will also be highlighted using a range of different film examples. By deliberating moving away from standardized patterns of speech and by creating new linguistic and vocal landscapes, these films do not just reveal new opportunities for identification and create new axes of meaning, but also mark verbalism as an independent means of artistic impression, which goes far beyond its function as the vehicle for a particular text.
September 2011
Flicks at the Iron Curtain - Berlin Border Cinemas from 1950-1961
The film series, exhibition and website "Flicks at the Iron Curtain – Berlin Border Cinemas 1950–1961" reconstructs the story of the West Berlin border cinemas. Potsdamer Platz played an essential role in the creation of the border cinemas. American film officer Oscar Martay and Berlin cinema operator Friedrich Wilhelm Foss, who ran Camera, the only postwar cinema at Potsdamer Platz, initiated the scheme. The idea was to establish cinemas along the border between the sectors, offering discounted film screenings for East Berliners. The idea was to communicate the values of the "free world" at the height of the Cold War by means of Allied film productions. The films shown at the around 30 border cinemas were received enthusiastically by the inhabitants of East Berlin. There were often heated discussions about the quality of the films being shown there however, with westerns and crime thrillers often receiving particular criticism due to their appeal for young audiences. The film series explores different aspects of the border cinemas.
September 2011
The DEFA Foundation Presents
The DEFA Foundation will be showing documentaries by Richard Cohn-Vossen as part of their monthly film series, one of which is a premiere: the restored version of Cohn-Vossen's banned documentary ARBEITERFAMILIE IN ILMENAU (GDR 1973) which can be seen on the big screen for the first time. The edited, state approved cut of PORZELLINER (Heinz Müller, GDR 1977) will be shown afterwards to provide a direct contrast. The program will be opened by the short documentary NACHTARBEITER (GDR 1973). Richard Cohn-Vossen will be attending the screening to hold a discussion after the film.
September 2011
Akira Kurosawa: Complete Retrospective
A veritable deluge of rain trickling down a run-down city gate, an old man sitting on a swing at night gently singing as the snowflakes gradually cover him, a samurai warrior whose body is full of arrows – a list that could easily be continued. It is images and scenes such as these that remain emblazoned on our film historical memory in emblematic fashion and whose impact is unparalleled. It's as if they encapsulate each film in its entirety, reflecting its stylistic, compositional and atmospheric profundity These images exert a fascination, serving to draw the viewer into the unique oeuvre of Akira Kurosawa (1910–1998), whose status as a "sensei" (Master) or "tenno" (Emperor) is by no means restricted to Japan. We will be presenting the complete works of this internationally acclaimed director on the big screen in 35mm during September and October.
September 2011
Public Screening: "Come Back, Africa" and Films by Riki Kalbe
The program for the next public screening on September 8 is confirmed: We’ll start with COME BACK, AFRICA by Lionel Rogosin (USA 1958, 84 min) at 7.30pm followed by HEXENSCHUSS (1979, 16mm, 29 min), DIE OPTISCHE INDUSTRIEGESELLSCHAFT ODER DARF'S EIN VIERTELPFUND MEHR SEIN? (1983, 16mm, 45 min) and other films by Riki Kalbe at 9.30pm.
The "public screenings" series is running in conjunction with the Living Archive project we launched in June. Once a month, the project’s participants select films that are rarely screened, offering the public new ground for discussion. The screenings give an insight into the project’s diversity as well as that of the Arsenal film archive itself.
September 2011
Ulrike Ottinger
This autumn in Berlin is all about Ulrike Ottinger. The Haus der Kulturen der Welt is showing the work of the filmmaker, photographer and collector of worlds in the "Floating Food" exhibition (September 8 – October 30), which shows the way in which humans deal with nutrition also affects their relationship with the environment and thus also creates cultural identity. The exhibition and world premiere of her film Unter Schnee (HKW, September 9) form the centerpiece of the 2011 Asia Pacific Weeks. The complex oeuvre of the filmmaker and artist is also to be honored with the 2011 Hannah Höch Prize by the Berlin Cultural Administration. The Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) will be showing the unknown, not previously exhibited early paintings (1963–68) of Ottinger to coincide with her receiving the prize (October 26 –January 22). From September to January, Arsenal will also be inviting audiences to discover the cinematic oeuvre of Ulrike Ottinger in a series of twelve events which will include introductions and discussions. By drawing upon themes, quotes, images and sounds from the exhibitions, the film series reflects and comments on the complex nature of Ulrike Ottinger's world of moving images, which move between opulence, stylization, variations on the theatrical and the ethnographic, cultural history, science fiction, reflection and travel.
September 2011
Opening soon: "Putty Hill"
Matt Porterfield’s PUTTY HILL is starting in selected cinemas on September 29. The film, which had its world premiere in the 2010 Forum and has played successfully at many international festivals since, is being distributed by arsenal distribution. The film is set on the day before the funeral of a young man, who died of an overdose, showing his family and friends, who are beginning to get on with their lives again. Observing them in an almost documentary fashion, the film captures a mood and a milieu at the same time. Teenagers that come across as strangely exhausted by the impositions of growing up, only finding freedom in the small patch of green by the river or at the skate-park; adults whose lives are not just marked by tattoos. It is the film's great gentleness that allows both the places and the protagonists to speak for themselves.
September 2011
"A Night at the Archive"
Avi Mograbi, who is currently a fellow of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program and a participant of the Living Archive project, invites audiences to a very special screening on September 10th: "A Night at the Archive". The event will take place at our external film depot in Spandau. Films will be taken from the shelves based on a collective selection process and then screened either outside or inside depending on the weather. Background information on the films will also be collected and discussed, with refreshments also available.

"The Formative Years" in New York

Upheaval and Diversity – The Moroccan Film Days

Magical History Tour – Voice, Language & Speech in Film

Flicks at the Iron Curtain - Berlin Border Cinemas from 1950-1961

The DEFA Foundation Presents

Akira Kurosawa: Complete Retrospective

Public Screening: "Come Back, Africa" and Films by Riki Kalbe

Ulrike Ottinger

Opening soon: "Putty Hill"

"A Night at the Archive"