German Film @ Canada - Goethe-Institut

Protest movements have been crucially responsible for social change in Germany for centuries. The new #GoetheOnDemand film series "Signs of Resistance" takes a look back at 40 years of political documentary filmmaking from Germany. 14 films on important social issues of the past decades look at reunification, environmental movements, cultures of feminism, and coming to terms with the Nazi era.

"The Subjective Factor" deals with the beginnings of a new women's movement that sprang from the student movement of the late 1960s. "Keine Startbahn West" shows how a protest against the expansion of Frankfurt Airport gave rise to the largest regional citizens' initiative in the early 1980s, and "Leipzig im Herbst" documents the social upheaval shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Continue reading "Goethe on Demand: 14 Signs of Resistance" »

Uli Hanisch (53) is the man who gives series and films a home. “Babylon Berlin” and “The Queen’s Gambit” are only some of the shows, in addition to feature films, whose production designs he has created. In an interview with the German Press Agency, he explains where all the objects go after shooting and whether noticing a good film set is a compliment.

Mr. Hanisch, what does a production designer’s house look like? Do you have lots of chess pieces from the “Queen’s Gambit” lying around?
No, I actually have surprisingly few souvenirs from the films I’ve worked on the past two decades. Sometimes little things get lost. But I think it’s actually quite beneficial for someone who’s interested in furniture and all sorts of stuff to be able to develop that passion for collecting at work and not have to lug it all home. We borrow a lot.

How exactly does it work?
Continue reading ""The Queen's Gambit" &..." »

GOETHE FILMS @ digital TIFF Lightbox Canada-wide! Full program now online, tickets on sale May 5 at digital.tiff.net.

German public broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk has just distanced itself from the film "Lovemobil". The award-winning cinema documentary by Elke Margarete Lehrenkrauss, co-produced by NDR, shows scenes in large sections that are not authentic. This is the result of research by NDR's investigative YouTube youth program "STRG_F." The film is said to be based on many years of research by the author, but central protagonists of the film do not describe their personal experiences, but play a role. Numerous situations are re-enacted or staged. Watch the trailer here. Continue reading "Public broadcaster distances itself from the..." »

Last year, after I participated in an online conversation with the Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre and the Toronto Jewish Film Festival about WWII and post-war German and Russian anti-fascist films, I posted "An Antifascist Film List" spanning 1940 to today. Continuing that train of thought, here is an expanded viewing list of films to accompany our GOETHE FILMS series Radical--Exiting Extremism in which we just showed The Renegades, Wild Heart, and Combat Girls, looking at misguided ideologies, pied pipers, and perpetrators.

Disclaimer: This is a non-exhaustive list of films on and around the subject, not personal recommendations unless otherwise noted; and consider this a general content warning, many of these films are tough viewing/will invoke strong feelings. As always, make up your own mind.

Let's start with a few crucial female-made films, the first gave me the idea for the film cluster "Radical" when I was on the 2018 DOK Leipzig Goethe jury, where we awarded this documentary:

"Exit – Leaving Extremism Behind“ (Norway,Germany, Sweden; 2018) by Karen Winther, herself a former left-wing then right-wing extremist who exited. Through intimate conversations with former violent extremists from Germany, France, Denmark, and the US Winther asks: What was it that made us alter the course of our lives? If you watch one film on (de)radicalization, make it this one.
Dok Leipzig 2018 (Goethe-Institut Documentary Film Prize // Young Eyes Film Award // Gedanken-Aufschluss Award)
DOC NYC 2018
How to watch: Available on Kanopy (free with most North American library cards)

Most recently, Julia von Heinz tackled the topic and was Oscar long-listed for
"And Tomorrow the Entire World“ (Germany 2020) by Julia von Heinz Continue reading "A Radical Anti-Hate Film List" »

Accompanying our GOETHE FILMS series Radical--Exiting Extremism, we are sharing background articles on the larger global issues around radicalization and deradicalization, here an article about the seemingly contradictory roles women play in right-wing movements.

More and more women are active in right-wing extremist organizations. They not only play key roles, but also make the scene appear more harmless.

On July 9, 2013, when people discussed the planned opening of a reception centre for Syrian refugees with officials in Berlin-Hellersdorf, the then head of Berlin’s state branch of the NPD (National Democratic Party) Sebastian Schmidtke also wanted to speak but an organizer refused to give him the microphone. Instead, a petite woman with short brown hair and tattooed arms stepped forward. She openly agitated against foreigners and asylum seekers, but was nevertheless allowed her say. Maria Fank, Schmidtke’s partner, is not unknown: At the time, she was the Berlin head of the Ring Nationaler Frauen (RNF), an interest group for right-wing extremist women. She is still active in the NPD today. Is misanthropic content considered less dangerous if it comes from women? Continue reading "Radical: The Women on the Right" »

Accompanying our GOETHE FILMS series Radical--Exiting Extremism, we are sharing background articles on radicalization and deradicalization, here a portrait about soccer hooligan-turned-antifa campaigner and punk rocker Jan Gorkow and filmmaker Charlie Hübner's take on his protagonist for documentary Wild Heart, which we are streaming 8-10 March Canada-wide.

Jan “Monchi” Gorkow is the singer of the north-east German punk rock band Feine Sahne Fischfilet. Monchi comes from Jarmen, a small town in the eastern German province with 3,000 inhabitants, his parents’ house, a bus stop, a gas station and a substantial neo-Nazi problem. He is a guy who fights against injustice in the region with a big heart and an even bigger mouth. Neither the intelligence services nor public hostility can dissuade him.


We will form chains while there is a fire
It won't be easy when life consumes us all. (from "Solange es brennt" by Feine Sahne Fischfilet)

But he wasn’t always like this. In his early years, he shifted from being just a Hansa Rostock soccer fan to being a hooligan “Ultra” and everything that goes with it: going on rampages, getting arrested, being banned from the stadium and convicted. Continue reading "Radical: Wild Heart -- While there is fire" »

Accompanying our GOETHE FILMS series Radical--Exiting Extremism, we are sharing background articles on the larger global issues around radicalization and deradicalization, here about a not so rare occurrence: radicalized individuals switching sides:


Can a leftist terrorist become a right-wing extremist? Can a Nazi become a staunch Salafist? It happens more often than one might imagine. Continue reading "Radical: When extremists change sides" »

Leaving the Berlinale with a (3 and a half hour) bang & $10 in my pocket for betting on a Silver Bear Jury Prize for Maria Speth's school documentary Herr Bachmann and His Class:

Continue reading "#Berlinale2021 #review: Herr Bachmann and His..." »