Fassbinder‘s 70th birthday
For some weeks now, numerous events have been held to mark a special anniversary. This year, on 31 May, Rainer Werner Fassbinder would have turned 70. Over the last years and decades, RWF has gained increasing international recognition as a film-maker. His public image has shifted from enfant terrible to one of the most important German artists of the twentieth century. The exhibition Fassbinder – NOW in Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau is currently offering visitors a chance to view a collection of his papers, marvel at the wonderful costumes designed for his last films, and learn more about RWF’s unique position and his influence on younger generations of artists. Special tours are also being offered during which the curator Anna Fricke, the costume-designer Barbara Baum, the curator Hans-Peter Reichmann from the German Film Museum in Frankfurt am Main, and Juliane Maria Lorenz, President of the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation will provide background information on the exhibition from different perspectives. In addition, between 1 June and 18 August Berlin’s Arsenal cinema is showing one of Fassbinder’s films every Monday. The program includes five films restored as part of the film-heritage restoration project FILMERBE CONTENT, and these new versions will be premiering in the Arsenal’s special program.
Another wonderful opportunity to celebrate Fassbinder’s birthday is being offered on 31 May itself at 7:30 p.m. in the Martin-Gropius-Bau: accompanied by music, Antje Vollmer and Hans-Eckardt Wenzel will be reading from their book Hinter den Bildern die Welt – Die untergegangene Bundesrepublik in den Filmen von Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Ein Briefwechsel (Behind the Images, the World. The lost Federal Republic of Germany in the films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder – An exchange of letters) which was published Matrosenblau Verlag on 5 May. As part of their work on this project, the two authors were given special access to the entire body of the director’s work by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation. Vollmer and Wenzel describe their book as a “report on an encounter in the darkness of a movie theater” with films “that led us into a lost world and yet reached so far into the present.” Admission to the reading is free.
More information:
Fassbinder – NOW: an exhibition by the German Film Museum, Frankfurt am Main in collaboration with the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation, Berlin. Funded by the German Capital Cultural Fund.
Exhibition runs from 26 May to 23 August
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Niederkirchnerstraße 7
10963 Berlin
Guided tours (beginning at 4 p.m.):
with Anna Fricke
Mon 25 May and 1 June, and Mon 13 July
with Juliane Maria Lorenz
Thurs 11 June, 2 July and Thurs 30 July
with Hans-Peter Reichmann and Barbara Baum
Thurs 25 June, 23 July and 20 August
For RWF’s 70th birthday
Reading by Antje Vollmer and Hans-Eckardt Wenzel
Sun 31 May 2015, admission: 7 p.m.
Rotunda on the second upper level of the Martin-Gropius-Bau
Free admission, limted seats!
Film program:
Kino Arsenal
Potsdamer Straße 2
10785 Berlin
Mon 1 June, 7:30 p.m.
BEWARE OF A HOLY WHORE, 35mm, German with English subtitles, 103 minutes
Mon 8 June, 7:30 p.m.
THE MERCHANT OF FOUR SEASONS, DCP, German with English subtitles, 89 minutes
Mon 15 June, 7:30 p.m.
THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT, DCP, German with English subtitles, 124 minutes
Mon 22 June, 7:30 p.m.
WORLD ON A WIRE, DCP, German with English subtitles, 210 minutes
Mon 29 June, 7:30 p.m.
FEAR EATS THE SOUL, DCP, German with English subtitles, 93 minutes
Mon 6 July, 7:30 p.m.
MARTHA, 35mm, 116 minutes
Mon 13 July, 7:30 p.m.
FONTANE EFFI BRIEST, DCP, German with English subtitles, 141 minutes
Mon 20 July, 7:30 p.m.
FOX AND HIS FRIENDS, DCP, German with English subtitles, 123 minutes
Mon 27 July, 7:30 p.m.
CHINESE ROULETTE, DCP, German with English subtitles, 86 minutes
Mon 3 August, 7:30 p.m.
THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN, DCP, German with English subtitles, 120 minutes
Mon 10 August, 7:30 p.m.
IN A YEAR OF 13 MOONS, 35mm, 124 minutes
Mon 17 August, 7:30 p.m.
LOLA, 35mm, 113 minutes
Photo left: © Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin
Photo right: RIO DAS MORTES © RWFF