Looking Back to the Present – First film series at the Kinemathek Hall

Following its successful launch at the 75th Berlinale in February, the Kinemathek Hall is reopening its doors for film events, offering the public an experience beyond the classic cinema hall. From mid-November to the end of December, the film series “Looking Back to the Present” combines historical films from the holdings of the Kinemathek with current, internationally acclaimed productions from Germany. A total of twenty films will be shown across seven programs.

Berlin DJ, filmmaker and musician Sky Deep will open the new series and layer new live music over ‘Menschen am Sonntag’ (People on Sunday) by Robert Siodmak and Edgar G. Ulmer (1930), reinterpreting the film with an energetic mix of electronic grooves (14.11).

The program also includes current works by filmmakers such as Julian Radlmaier (‘Sehnsucht in Sangerhausen’ – ‘Phantoms of July’, 22.11.), Steffen Goldkamp (‘Regen fiel auf nichts Neues’ – ‘Rain Fell on the Nothing New’, 28.11.) and Sarah Miro Fischer (‘Schwesterherz’ – ‘The Good Sister’, 21.11.). These directors will be presenting their new films for the first time in Berlin, which have previously been shown at festivals such as Locarno, Karlovy Vary and the Berlinale. The cast and crew will also attend the preview screenings before they are released nationwide.

Feature-length films will be accompanied by experimental shorts by artists such as Helena Wittmann (‘A Thousand Waves Away’, 22.11) and Yalda Afsah (‘Jarramplas’, 28.11). Daniel Asadi Faezi and Mila Zhluktenko (‘Rückblickend betrachtet’ – ‘In Retrospect’, 21.11) will be showing current works and attending the screening.

The compilation film ‘Holofiction’ by Michal Kosakowski will also be screened, a film that premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September and is now celebrating its German premiere in Berlin (4.12). Rainer Rother, the former artistic director of the German Kinemathek, will moderate the evening.

Filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger is also a guest of the film series. She recently donated part of her archive to the Kinemathek. Four of her short films will form the basis for an evening that brings together the archive and authorship. Ottinger herself will be present (12.12).

The series concludes with a program featuring the female directors of the DFFB. Works by Helke Sander, Elfi Mikesch, Angelika Levi, Pia Frankenberg, Lilly Grote, Ute Aurand, Bärbel Freund, Monika Vogel and Sibylle Tiedemann will be shown. All the artists will be present (19.12).

With “Looking Back to the Present”, the Kinemathek, together with curator Toby Ashraf, is establishing a format that connects current cinema with its archives and opens up a space for resonance and reflection. The historic Hall – with its stripped-back aesthetic, right at the heart of Berlin – provides the perfect setting.

“Film heritage is part of the film industry,” says Heleen Gerritsen, Artistic Director. “That’s why I’m so pleased that outside experts are bringing new productions and their film crews to our archive. We hope that the audience and industry members will feel at home with us.”

The screenings, followed by film discussions, will take place each evening in the Hall of the Kinemathek. 

Information about the program is now available online in the Kinemathek’s event calendar: deutsche-kinemathek.de/veranstaltungen

Venue and tickets Kinemathek – Halle, Mauerstraße 79, 10117 Berlin Tickets go on sale in November at: tickets.deutsche-kinemathek.de
Admission: €10 / €7 concessions

Interviews with the participating artists can be arranged upon request through Toby Ashraf, the film curator of the film series. Contact Toby Ashraf, toby.ashraf [at] hotmail.com (toby[dot]ashraf[at]hotmail[dot]com), Mobil +49 176 611 906 23

The Deutsche Kinemathek receives funding from the German Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media.