Film Restored

The festival explores films that dare to take a chance: films that challenge social norms and accept the associated risks of doing so. The drama ‘Cyankali’ (GER 1930) pushed boundaries by condemning the law that criminalized abortion, sparking a major uproar among film censors and the public alike in the Weimar Republic. Arriving before the breakthroughs of the 1970s queer liberation movement, ‘Winter Kept Us Warm’ (CA 1966) – considered to be Canada’s first queer film – was made at a time when homosexuality was still a criminal offense. Its student director David Secter performed a balancing act by depicting the relationship between his protagonists with enough subtlety to secure permission to film on his university’s campus. The taboo-breaking nature of ‘Monday Morning’ (BG 1966/1988) proved too extreme, however: the film was banned for two decades after its compelling protagonist was deemed to be too nonconformist and rebellious for socialist Bulgaria.

The history of cinema repeatedly demonstrates that the threats faced by both people and films in repressive contexts can become existential: so much so that staying put is riskier than seeking an uncertain future in exile. The festival is presenting Latin American perspectives on and from the diaspora – and discussing the precarious conditions surrounding the creation and preservation of these works. We are also welcoming Roya Film House which, founded in 2003, is Afghanistan’s first women-led production company. Now operating in exile, the company also established the Herat International Women’s Film Festival and assembled an extensive archive of films made by Afghan women. Other works in the festival address persecution and war on screen: ‘The Garden of the Finzi-Continis’ (IT 1970), for example, depicts the increasingly life-threatening disenfranchisement of Jewish people in fascist Italy, while ‘Those Whom Death Refused’ (GUI 1988) tells the story of Guinea-Bissau’s struggle for independence which a young woman joins while searching for her husband.

While some gambles represent a last resort, the cinema finds it hard to resist stories about people who relish taking risks. Such characters seek out thrills in which the audience can vicariously share from the safety of their cinema seats. In ‘Their Son’ (GER 1929), the trapeze artist Frattani propels himself, and his spectators, from one adrenaline rush to the next. In this year’s films, daring acts can quickly become intertwined with crime – with dangerous games played for money, life and death. Here, risk promises suspense, whether in the Finnish film noir ‘Preludes to Ecstasy’ (FIN 1961) or the Coen brothers’ cult classic ‘Fargo’ (USA 1996). In this context, ‘Chameleon Street’ (USA 1989) is a must-see: a sparklingly witty comedy where risk becomes a performative game for the Black protagonist who, from surgeon to lawyer, continuously feigns different professional identities. Through a dazzling display of verbal fireworks, the film succeeds in exposing discrimination based on race and class while laying bare the excesses of capitalism. Financed by the Black community, the commercial risk associated with this indie film was borne entirely by private backers.

Boldness is often a matter of budget – and financial feasibility – but also a question of aesthetics. ‘First Loss’ (GDR 1990) was created during the political upheaval of the final months of East Germany and dared to deviate from the usual DEFA conventions by, among other things, opting for original sound instead of synchronization. ‘Monday Morning’ featured unconventional camera work, ‘Chameleon Street’ playful imagery and ‘Crazy Love’ (BR/UK 1971) a mix of avant-garde and home movie footage. According to film scholar Vinzenz Hediger, cinema history has acknowledged “risk as an aesthetic virtue,” despite – or perhaps because of – the film industry’s otherwise often uniform commercial offerings. In his keynote speech, Hediger will bridge the gap between artistic risks and those in film heritage practice.

Hediger will also examine how archives and cultural policy handle artistically bold films, the degree of willingness to take risks displayed by institutions themselves in the process, and the consequences – or potential – this holds for the future of film heritage. Direct threats to film material become apparent through urgently required rescue operations, such as those involving ‘The Girls’ (SRI 1978), ‘Dracula in Istanbul’ (TR 1953) and the newly established Lost Video History dffb network. The challenging work of film archives is made more transparent and accessible with a look at the difficult decisions restorers must make, for example, in the ethical handling of missing sequences, acts and entire original versions in ‘Cyankali’, ‘Their Son’ and ‘Romance of the Western Chamber’ (CHN 1927). ‘Cyankali’ and ‘Their Son’ are among the six restorations made possible thanks to the German Film Heritage Program (FFE), a funding program that is due to end in 2028, but which is of crucial importance for the preservation of substantial parts of German film history.

This year, municipal cinemas and film-culture initiatives are being celebrated for the 27th time with the awarding of the Prize of the Association of German Cinematheques. The award aims to support the work of these cinemas at a time of increasing challenges to their existence and, with the accompanying series of events, give them international programming ideas.

Sinema Transtopia
Lindower Str. 20/22
13347 Berlin

Deutsche Kinemathek
Mauerstraße 79
10117 Berlin

The festival pass gives you access to all festival events and costs € 30, or €10 at the reduced rate.

→ Register by 9 October!

Individual tickets are available directly from the venues and through the online ticket shops starting in October.

→ Sinema Transtopia online ticket shop

→ Kinemathek online ticket shop

Do you have any questions? The Film Restored team will be happy to answer them at filmrestored [at] deutsche-kinemathek.de (filmrestored[at]deutsche-kinemathek[dot]de)