Films & Schedules - GERMANY

Since the 1970s, scientists have been conducting experiments with bizarre amusement park rides to study their effects on the human brain. (7 mins.)

See SHORT CUTS III: INTERNATIONAL TIES to purchase tickets.

Since the 1970s, scientists have been conducting experiments with bizarre amusement park rides to study their effects on the human brain. (7 mins.)

See SHORT CUTS III: INTERNATIONAL TIES to purchase tickets.

Interests: Short Cuts.

Von Trotta’s film is an intelligent and powerful dramatization of the life of the philosopher and writer Hannah Arendt, whose The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) made her famous in philosophical circles before her controversial chronicle in The New Yorker of Nazi Adolf Eichmann’s 1961 trial for war crimes shot her to broader international celebrity. Focusing on the Eichmann era, Barbara Sukowa perfectly embodies the academic Arendt, who observes that it is the ordinariness of Eichmann (“He looks like a nobody”) that leads her to fashion her most startling concept—the “banality of evil”—while her reporting on collaborating German Jews causes a...

Von Trotta’s film is an intelligent and powerful dramatization of the life of the philosopher and writer Hannah Arendt, whose The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) made her famous in philosophical circles before her controversial chronicle in The New Yorker of Nazi Adolf Eichmann’s 1961 trial for war crimes shot her to broader international celebrity. Focusing on the Eichmann era, Barbara Sukowa perfectly embodies the academic Arendt, who observes that it is the ordinariness of Eichmann (“He looks like a nobody”) that leads her to fashion her most startling concept—the “banality of evil”—while her reporting on collaborating German Jews causes a firestorm of protest. “What could have been a dry, intellectually ponderous film is given flesh and blood, resulting in a drama that is both stirring and emotionally rewarding.”—London Film Festival (113 mins.)

Selected Filmography: The Second Awakening of Christa Klages (78), Sister, or The Balance of Happiness (79), Rosa Luxemburg (86), The Promise (95), Rosenstrasse (03)

Sponsored by Zeitgeist Northwest.

FILM REVIEW

Interests: Narrative Feature, German Language, History, Literature.

“Paradise on earth? Through writer and narrator Werner Herzog’s lens, that is what Bakhtia, a village on the river Yenisei in Russia’s far north might seem like in this breathtaking, rich, and frequently funny documentary. He and first-time director Vasyukov capture the local people—nearly always in companionship with their dogs—making their own tools, trapping sable, felling trees to build boats, fishing, harvesting food, and holding ceremonies for the turning of the seasons. Sharing their perspectives on greed, war, and mortality, as Herzog notes: They live off the land and are self-reliant, truly free. … No rules, no taxes, no government,...

“Paradise on earth? Through writer and narrator Werner Herzog’s lens, that is what Bakhtia, a village on the river Yenisei in Russia’s far north might seem like in this breathtaking, rich, and frequently funny documentary. He and first-time director Vasyukov capture the local people—nearly always in companionship with their dogs—making their own tools, trapping sable, felling trees to build boats, fishing, harvesting food, and holding ceremonies for the turning of the seasons. Sharing their perspectives on greed, war, and mortality, as Herzog notes: They live off the land and are self-reliant, truly free. … No rules, no taxes, no government, no laws, no bureaucracy, no phones, no radio, equipped only with their individual values and standard of conduct.”—Telluride Film Festival (90 mins.)

Selected Documentary Filmography: Land of Silence and Darkness (71), La Soufrière (77), Lessons of Darkness (92), Grizzly Man (05), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (10)

Sponsored by Zeitgeist Northwest.

FILM REVIEW

Interests: German Language, Documentary.

Çamburnu is a small village in northeastern Turkey where people have lived for generations off tea cultivation and fishing. But the idyllic landscape has been compromised by the decision 10 years ago to build a garbage landfill directly above the village. Despite protests by the mayor and the villagers, the site has continued to pollute the air and ground water, while rains flush the waste down the slopes, and flocks of birds and stray dogs besiege the village. In 2006, Akin went to Çamburnu, his grandparents’ home village, and over five years returned many times to chronicle the village’s struggle...

Çamburnu is a small village in northeastern Turkey where people have lived for generations off tea cultivation and fishing. But the idyllic landscape has been compromised by the decision 10 years ago to build a garbage landfill directly above the village. Despite protests by the mayor and the villagers, the site has continued to pollute the air and ground water, while rains flush the waste down the slopes, and flocks of birds and stray dogs besiege the village. In 2006, Akin went to Çamburnu, his grandparents’ home village, and over five years returned many times to chronicle the village’s struggle against the government and document the disasters that threaten this former paradise. Polluting Paradise provides a remarkable portrait of a small community fighting for its life and an inspirational story of activist courage. (85 mins.)

Selected Filmography: Head-On (04), Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul (05), The Edge of Heaven (07), Soul Kitchen (09)

Sponsored by Chipotle.

FILM REVIEW

Interests: German Language, Documentary.

Skateboarding becomes a metaphor for freedom in this love letter to the subversive power of youth. In East Germany in the 1980s, for three teens—Nico, Dirk, and Dennis—life in the GDR was dominated by skateboarding. But in a nation where “the streets were not for playing around,” skating was as much a revolutionary act of defiance as it was a spectacular sport. Using a clutch of priceless Super-8 films, animations, reenactments, and archival footage, all set against a delirious punk soundtrack, This Ain’t California follows the three through adolescence and into adulthood on the eve of reunification. Through the lenses...

Skateboarding becomes a metaphor for freedom in this love letter to the subversive power of youth. In East Germany in the 1980s, for three teens—Nico, Dirk, and Dennis—life in the GDR was dominated by skateboarding. But in a nation where “the streets were not for playing around,” skating was as much a revolutionary act of defiance as it was a spectacular sport. Using a clutch of priceless Super-8 films, animations, reenactments, and archival footage, all set against a delirious punk soundtrack, This Ain’t California follows the three through adolescence and into adulthood on the eve of reunification. Through the lenses of the skater kids amongst the Stasi comes a rare, stylishly witty glimpse into East Berlin counterculture. (90 mins.)

First Feature.

Sponsored by Zeitgeist Northwest.

FILM REVIEW

Interests: New Directors, German Language, History, Documentary.