One of the last great German Expressionist films of the silent era, Joe May’s Asphalt is a love story set in the traffic-strewn Berlin of the late 1920s. Starring the delectable Betty Amann in her most famous leading role, Asphalt is a luxuriously produced UFA classic where tragic liaisons and...
In this film essay, critic Peter Buchka explores the German cinema of the 1920s, ranging from the disquieting images of Fritz Lang's Metropolis to the castrating sexuality of Marlene Dietrich in Die Blaue Engel. The program provides an introduction to Weimar cinema, with Buchka's essay narrated...
Documentary film about the agricultural and industrial district in Thuringia. The focus is on the district town of Erfurt, with Gotha, Eisenach and Weimar as other towns worthy of mention and steeped in tradition. This documentary, which has the characteristics of a promotional film, still bears...
In this docudrama Rosa von Praunheim looks into Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s sexual orientation, especially into his erotic experiences during his travels in Italy. Contrary to the common belief, von Praunheim argues that Goethe was not a heartbreaker and conqueror after all. It was only in...
In this realistic, unsentimental portrait of Germany’s dire economic situation, a middle-aged payroll clerk loses his job due to technological advances and, unable to find another, descends into despair. The film’s director, Marie Harder, was one of only a few women directors of the time and...
The Weimar Republic came to bear for many the humiliation of World War I and the blame for all its accompanying hardships. Despite a few years of stability, the Weimar Republic faced issues such as hyperinflation and the Great Depression, which drove many Germans into the arms of radical and...
