Komm mit mir in das Cinema – Die Gregors

The title refers to the eponymous 1937 poem by Else Lasker-Schüler, in which the poet writes that “what once was: love” can be found at the cinema. Two decades on from this, it was a love of cinema that brought together two people who significantly expanded – today one might say, diversified – the film history of post-war Germany, encompassing both the way films are viewed as well as the discourse surrounding the medium: Erika and Ulrich Gregor.
Alice Agneskirchner’s documentary follows various paths to get right up close to the founders of Arsenal and the International Forum of New Cinema: on the one hand via the eventful life of the couple, who have been married for over 60 years; on the other via those who have accompanied them along the way, including such prominent figures as Jutta Brückner, Wim Wenders and Jim Jarmusch. The films of which the Gregors are particularly fond and to which they gave their full backing are also central, as the duo becomes reacquainted with Claude Lanzmann’s SHOAH, István Szabó’s APA and Helke Sander’s DIE ALLSEITIG REDUZIERTE PERSÖNLICHKEIT – REDUPERS. This is not only a film about love and cinema but also a piece of West German history. (Sven von Reden)

Alice Agneskirchner was born in 1966 in Munich, Germany. She studied political science, theatre studies and German, comparative anthropology, and later film directing. Alice Agneskirchner works as a writer, director and documentary producer. Her film Lampenfieber was screened at the Berlinale in 2019.

Production Alice Agneskirchner, Sandra Ehlermann. Production company Ehlermann & Agneskirchner Filmproduktion (Berlin, Germany). Written and directed by Alice Agneskirchner. Cinematography Jan Kerhart. Editing Silke Botsch. Music Max Knoth. Sound design Roman Strack. Sound Ivonne Gärber. Production manager Sandra Ehlermann. Commissioning editors Rolf Bergmann, Andrea Hanke. Co-production Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, Westdeutscher Rundfunk. With Erika Gregor, Ulrich Gregor.

Films (documentaries, selection): 1994: Raulien's Revier (87 min.). 1995: Herr, Frau, Hund (65 min.). 1999: Waschen und Legen (90 min.). 2001: Cheerleader-Stories (5 x 27 min.). 2003: Zusammen (14 min.). 2006: Liebe Mama, ich kannte Dich kaum... / Dear Mum, I Hardly Knew You... (90 min.). 2009: 24 h Berlin, 20 x Brandenburg. 2013: Ein Apartment in Berlin (84 min.). 2017: Auf der Jagd – Wem gehört die Natur? / On Hunting – Who Owns Nature? (100 min.). 2019: "Wie HOLOCAUST nach Deutschland kam..." (90 min.), Lampenfieber / Kids in the Spotlight (90 min.). 2022: Komm mit mir in das Cinema – Die Gregors / Come With Me to the Cinema – The Gregors.

Bonus Material