Our Year in Film 2019

🎥 “Amazing series over the past year, thanks to @JuttaBrendemuhl: Margarethe von Trotta, Christoph Schlingensief, Ulrike Ottinger, BAD BANKS and more – German films you wonʼt see anywhere else.” – @CulturalMining, on GOETHE FILMS

🌎 “In Buenos Aires it was very important that the Goethe-Institut supported us ((during the military dictatorship)) because it was a foreign institution and the military did not dare to touch it. That was the only institutional support we had at that time. That is why the Goethe-Institut was so important. Jutta Brendemuhl at the Goethe-Institut Toronto invited me to Toronto, and I thank you for that.” – Filmmaker Narcisa Hirsch on the Goethe-Institut's crucial support of her work over the years

🌍 “SUPA MODO screens as part of a double bill with KATI KATI. Itʼs very hard to see African film in North America, and @GoetheToronto has curated festival favourites of the past few years.” – @SeventhRow on GOETHE FILMS "One Fine Day: Africa Now"

🌍 “Thank you so much for NAIROBI HALF LIFE yesterday. A powerful tale that simply opens up to another reality. I was very moved by it and felt lucky to be able to see it on the big screen.” – audience member on GOETHE FILMS "One Fine Day: Africa Now"

🌍 “We --including our teenage sons-- all loved SUPA MODO and were utterly moved. The series is a fantastic idea, we sure hope youʼll repeat this!” – Audience member at GOETHE FILMS "One Fine Day: Africa Now"

🌍 “This whole series is wonderful and so strong. You will not regret a single one of the films, and you will come out with a completely different view of the world, as these films will affect you deeply. When I watched them, they stayed in my head for days. Emotional and intellectual, diverse and wonderful each in their own way.” – Frameline Radio, on GOETHE FILMS "One Fine Day: Africa Now"

🌊 "Watch this if you want to check out Germanyʼs next film wave. The Cannes Film Festival has a long and fabled history as a launch pad for world cinemaʼs most remarkable new talents. That certainly was the case for the filmmakers showcased in ‘Past Forward: Directors Before Cannesʼ, the Goethe-Institutʼs new series of lesser seen features made by three German directors just before their bigger breakthroughs.” – The Toronto Star, on GOETHE FILMS "Past Forward - Directors before Cannes"

🌊 “Amazing programme!!!” – Andrea Picard, Toronto International Film Festival, on GOETHE FILMS "Past Forward - Directors before Cannes"

🌊 “These directors have managed to break through the clutter and noise of the international film scene, securing the attention they so richly deserve.” –Mubi on GOETHE FILMS "Past Forward: Directors before Cannes"

💪 “The Goethe-Institut Toronto keeps putting on these amazing series. What theyʼve done for October is they put together a small collection of recent gangster films. But theyʼre not what youʼd typically think, theyʼre more complex. Check it out! Itʼs something different thatʼs happening in Germany.” –FRAMELINE @ Radio Regent on GOETHE FILMS "Stronger Than Blood"

💪 "From downtown #Toronto to the slopes of Park City, Utah: We showed Felix Kraus & Bianca Kennedy @GoetheToronto
Goethe Media Space in May, now... @sundancefest 2020! Congrats, #SwanCollective & thanks for sharing your work with us!" -- @juttabrendemuhl on Twitter

💪 “The winner of a couple of awards at the Berlin festival in 1999, DEALER, director Thomas Arslanʼs gritty film about a small-time dealerʼs desperate efforts to get a fresh start helped establish a new subgenre of crime stories set on the mean streets of German cities, often involving protagonists from immigrant communities. It gets a rare screening as part of 'Stronger Than Blood', a Goethe-Institut series that includes two more movies worthy of investigation by cinephiles who like the tough stuff.” – The Toronto Star, on GOETHE FILMS: "Stronger Than Blood"

🎥 “Toronto Outdoor Picture Show has developed a clever strategy for providing audiences with a taste of something different while still giving them what they demand, pairing popular films with underappreciated classics and Canadian shorts. It fosters a film-loving environment that is unpretentious but also interesting and challenging.” – The National Post on TOPS, a long-time arts partner of the Goethe-Institut Toronto

🌈 “It was our largest opening night of all time and one of our best nights this year with a diverse audience.” – Emily Reid, TOPS, on RAFIKI co-presentation with the Goethe-Institut

🌈 “DARIO thrives in its simplicity. It feels like thereʼs not an ounce of fat on the story here. In short, itʼs good!” – William Hopper, Letterboxd, on Manuel Kinzer's short @ Inside Out Festival, co-presented by the Goethe-Institut

🎥 “Thank you for a splendid evening at TIFF. Your insight and passion was the highlight of a very enjoyable evening.”
“Great talk, Jutta, thanks, it really enriched the watching of the film… and what a film! Will stay with me.”
– audience members on Goethe-Institut Toronto Program Curator Jutta Brendemuhl's talk on Max Ophuls' LIEBELEI at TIFF


Tell us which film out of this year’s GOETHE FILMS series was your favorite & why by noon EST December 6 for your chance to win a DVD of a recent German gangster thriller (from our “Stronger than Blood” series and beyond) or a copy of the book “German Silent Movie Classics” to celebrate our ongoing 2019/2020 collaboration with the Silent Revue series. Only the winners will be notified.



image: The Toronto premiere of Andreas Dresen's "Gundermann", presented by the Goethe-Institut and the German Consulate, opens the Paradise Theatre.