Goethe-Institut Brussels and Cinematek present: A series of films “1989: Stories of Change” from 16 October to 13 November
Categories: Cinema
Date: 16/10/2019 to 13/11/2019
Time: 0 h 00
Location: Cinematek
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Goethe-Institut Brussels and Cinematek present a series of films “1989: Stories of Change” from 16 October to 13 November.
The Goethe-Institut Brussels and the Cinematek are presenting the film series “1989: Stories of Change” with film screenings and discussions with directors to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall from October 16 to November 13.
1989: Stories of Change
Goethe-Institut and Cinematek present a series of films in October and November 2019 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Filmmakers Eyal Sivan and Helke Misselwitz come to Brussels on October 16 and November 13 to present their respective films. What can one see and understand at the moment in which something occurs, when it is only later known that these events will have made history?
All films in the series revolve around similar moments in 1989, in which change and uncertainty come together. In October 1990 the GDR is history, nobody knew that in November 1989. The kick-off film will be the essay film “For the love of the people” on October 16, (Cinematek, 19 h) The film screening, will be followed by a Q & A discussion in English with director Eyal Sivan and moderator Stoffel Debuysere.
The year 1989 in the film
Jean-Luc Godard, taken by surprise at the time while filming of the fall of the Berlin Wall, uses the confusing situation in “Allemagne année 90 neuf zéro” (1991) to reflect on the 20th century Germany.
Chantal Akerman observes the upheavals in the GDR, in Poland and in the dissolving Soviet Union in “D’Est” (1993) in travellings, sometimes in long static settings.
In his “Kehraus” trilogy over the course of 16 years, Gerd Kroske accompanies three Leipzig street sweepers, whose profession and life chances change analogously to the political situation.
“Winter Adé” by Helke Misselwitz, a documentary from 1988, lets GDR citizens talk about their life situation.
Cynthia Beatts “Cycling the Frame”, filmed in the same year as “Winter Adé”, sends Tilda Swinton on a bike tour through West Berlin. The actress moves alongside the wall. The more massive the frontier systems appear, the less one has the impression that the division of the city would ever change. In 2009, Tilda Swinton rides the same route again, the new movie is called “The Invisible Frame”: what was just concrete for eternity is invisible 20 years later.
A film that seeks to restore the fundamental openness of the moment is Thomas Heise’s “Material” (2009). To a nearly three-hour collage Heise mounted to date unused photographs, which originate from the GDR of the 80s and from the time immediately before and after the turn. “Material” visualizes the historical moment in such a way that the possibilities, the dangers and the utopian potential, which were once inherent in this moment, are once again revealed.
Further information: Goethe-Institut, Events:
https://www.goethe.de/ins/be/de/ver.cfm
CINEMATEK, Programme:
