1. art and entertainment
2. movies
3. film festivals and awards

kultur
vergnügen
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german
cultural
events
2015
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welcome
Welcome to our first issue of 2015. Settle in with us for a season of thoughtprovoking events.
Twenty-five years after the Cold War ended, new challenges arise, brought
about by divergent interpretations of the private sphere and of the relationship between private and public, state and community. Top Secret: An
Interactive Film Experience encourages you, the audience, to lend your
voice and opinion as a selection of espionage films from East and West are
screened. Who is the good guy and who the bad? This is the first program in
a new project entitled The Plurality of Privacy.
Light and Dark: Photographs from Germany by Barbara Klemm exhibits documentary photographs and portraits by one of Germany’s most distinguished photographers.
Klemm captured Germany’s history, personalities and moments while covering politics
from 1970 to 2004 for the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Barbara Klemm’s photos from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi after the fall of the USSR
will also be featured during Discovering Georgian Cinema, a film series in
partnership with the National Gallery of Art.
gute aussichten: young german photography 2014/2015 challenges us and gives us a
taste of the shape that we’re in as individuals and a society. The winners of this
annual competition confront harsh topics such as death, migration and loneliness as
well as more lighthearted themes.
Our Zeitgeist series presents contemporary German-speaking literature. Alongside
authors from Austria and Switzerland, award-winning German writer Matthias Nawrat
will read from his book Entrepreneurs (Unternehmer). In addition, author Jenny
Erpenbeck will be reading at the Library of Congress.
Additional highlights of the season include Film | Neu Presents, a compilation of new
films from Germany; a March performance by the Leipzig String Quartet at the Library
of Congress; and festivals with our partners from the Jewish Film Festival and the
Environmental Film Festival.
And for those who wish to speak German, the Goethe-Institut offers courses at all levels,
alongside opportunities to practice at its monthly Deutsch am Mittag. Schau’ mal vorbei!
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Wilfried Eckstein
Carsten Ruepke
Director, Goethe-Institut Washington
Head, Cultural Department, German Embassy
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Exhibitions
n Light and Dark: Photographs from Germany 4
by Barbara Klemm
n gute aussichten:
young german photography 2014/2015
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Literature
n Zeitgeist DC: Jenny Erpenbeck n Zeitgeist DC: Contemporary Voices
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Discussion
n American Goethe Society n Wagner Society 20
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Language
n German Courses 21
Friends of the Goethe-Institut
Table of Contents WINTER
East Berlin, 1979 © Barbara Klemm
Fraternal Kiss between Leonid Brezhnev and Erich
Honecker, Marking Thirty Years of East Germany,
© Icarus Films
The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear
The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse
© CCC Filmkunst
Au Revoir Les Enfants
© Washington Jewish Film Festival
Imaging an Image (Ein Bild abgeben)
© Stefanie Schroeder:
Films
n Top Secret – An Interactive Film Experience n Discovering Georgian Cinema
n Washington Jewish Film Festival n Environmental Film Festival
n Film|Neu Presents 22
Rentals
27
Addresses
28
Tickets and Electronic Newsletter
31
About Us
21
Cover Image:
At the Reichstag, West Berlin, 1987 © Barbara Klemm
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Barbara
Klemm
Photos:
Top left: Leonid Brezhnev, Willy Brandt, Bonn © Barbara Klemm
Below: Fraternal Kiss between Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker, Marking Thirty Years of East Germany, East
Berlin, 1979 © Barbara Klemm
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BARBARA
KLEMM
n EXHIBITION
January 14 - February 27, 2015
Goethe-Institut, FotoGalerie
Leica Store Gallery DC, 977 F St. NW
Light and Dark:
Photographs from Germany by Barbara Klemm
Opening receptions with photographer Barbara Klemm on Wednesday, January 14
6 – 7 pm: Opening at Leica Store Gallery DC of a selection of portraits depicting iconic figures and everyday people. Accompanied by a book signing.
RSVP to exhibition@leica-store-dc.com
7 – 8:30 pm: Opening at the Goethe-Institut of 84 iconic documentary photographs capturing forty years of cultural, social, and political history in Germany.
RSVP at www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
This solo exhibition presents photographs by one of Germany’s most distinguished women
photographers. Spanning forty years, Barbara Klemms’ works bear witness to Germany’s
recent history, in a country that was divided for decades. Many of her pictures have
become “icons of contemporary”, shaping the cultural memory of several generations. She
has created a body of photographs which combine the documentary and the artistic in a
manner seldom encountered in German press photography.
Although the majority of these photos were commissioned for the daily newspaper
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, they represent far more than coverage of the day’s
events. Barbara Klemm first joined the newspaper in 1959, working in the photo lab and
producing photographic plates, before becoming a photographer on the editorial board
for art, culture and politics in 1970. Her commissioned work for the newspaper took her
to many of the most important events and places in the Federal Republic of Germany,
the German Democratic Republic and numerous other countries. Photos of East and West
Germany before and after unification are clearly the focus of this exhibition.
With support from ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen),
and in cooperation with Leica Store Gallery DC.
Gallery hours:
Goethe-Institut FotoGalerie:
Leica Store Gallery DC: M – Th: 9 am – 5 pm; F: 9 am – 3 pm
Sat – Wed: 11 am – 6 pm; Th – F: 11 am – 7 pm
n DEUTSCH AM MITTAG
Wednesday, January 14, 12 – 1:15 pm
Guided Tour of Light and Dark: Photographs from Germany
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Photographer Barbara Klemm conducts a tour through the exhibition.
For details and to rsvp, see www.goethe.de/washington.
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The Spy Who Came in from the Cold © Criterion
ESPIONAGE
n FILM SERIES
February 9 – March 16, 2015
Goethe-Institut, FotoGalerie
Top Secret: An Interactive Film Experience
Is Big Brother watching us? And who exactly is Big Brother these days? The Goethe-Institut and
John Feffer (DC-based playwright whose works have premiered at the Capital Fringe Festival)
present spy films from both sides of the former Iron Curtain via five interactive experiences
that connect that vanished world to our current reality. Help solve the mysteries! Participate in
our Spy Club to have access to all the secrets of the inner circle.
The Cold War was a golden age of spy versus spy. Today, we live with hackers and homeland
securities, satellite surveillance and cyberwar, whistleblowers and WikiLeaks. The technology
has become more sophisticated and the geopolitics are different. What has changed in the
world of spycraft and in the relationship between privacy and security?
John Feffer is the director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies. In
2012-13, he was an Open Society Fellow looking at the transformations that have taken place
in Eastern Europe since 1989. He is the author of several books and numerous articles on
culture and policy.
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For Eyes Only
© DEFA Film Library
Monday, February 9, 6:30 pm
For Eyes Only (Streng geheim)
East Germany, 1963, 103 min., Director: János Veiczi
A double agent tries to steal secret military
plans from the headquarters of the American
Military Intelligence Division in West Germany
while his boss desperately tries to find the
mole in his agency. This film is considered the
most famous and successful spy thriller ever
made in the GDR. It was wildly successful in
Eastern Bloc countries, where many critics
praised it and contended the plot was true.
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Tuesday, February 17, 6:30 pm
Haber’s Photo Shop (Fotó Háber)
Hungary, 1963, 108 min., Hungarian with English subtitles,
Director: Zoltán Várkonyi
A secret service man infiltrates a gang to
uncover their operation. Behind the front of a
photo shop, the group retrieves top-secret
information on atomic weapons for a foreign
client.
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János Veiczi (b. 1924, Budapest, d. 1987, East
Berlin) received the 1964 National Prize of
East Germany for For Eyes Only. He wrote
and directed other films, including Die
gefrorenen Blitze (1967) and Anflug Alpha I
(1971).
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ESPIONAGE
The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse
© CCC Filmkunst
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Zoltán Varkon (1912-1979, Budapest), a
popular film director and actor between the
1930s and 1970s, created in Fotó Háber a spy
film that in terms of its dramaturgy and form
owes much to the crime film genre. With
comparatively few starkly distinctive
ideological references and a virtually universal
understanding of genre, this beautifully-shot
film playfully serves its public – on either side
of the Iron Curtain.
series, spy fiction and Big Brother surveillance
with the nihilism of the Mabuse world.
Fritz Lang (b. 1890, Vienna) began writing
screenplays and directing films in Germany
after World War I. He left Germany in 1933 and
relocated to the United States, where he
produced his best-known film, Fury (1936). The
1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse was his last film.
Monday, March 16, 6:30 pm
Monday, March 2, 6:30 pm
To Be Determined
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Great Britain, 1965, 112 min., Director: Martin Ritt
Tickets see page 31.
A British agent is sent to East Germany in
order to sow disinformation about a powerful
East German intelligence officer. He allows
himself to be recruited by the communists, but
soon his charade unravels and he admits to
being a British agent—a revelation that achieves n G A M E S A F T E R N O O N
the ultimate objective of the mission. Based on
Sunday, February 8, 3 – 6 pm
a novel by John Le Carré, who worked for a
time in the 1950s as a spy for the British Secret Goethe-Institut
Service.
What Do You Spy?
Martin Ritt (1914-1990) was an American
director and actor who worked in both film
and theater. His credits include Long, Hot
Summer (1958), Paris Blues (1961) and
Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man
(1962).
Monday, March 9, 6:30 pm
The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse
(Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse)
France/Italy/West Germany, 1960, 103 min., German with
English subtitles, Director: Fritz Lang
When reporter Peter Barter is murdered,
Commissioner Kras gets a phone call from
clairvoyant Cornelius, who saw Barter’s death
in a vision. Could it be that Dr. Mabuse, a
criminal genius believed to be dead, is back?
This film combines elements of other spy film
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This afternoon of espionage presents a number
of puzzle-oriented and hidden role games,
enlivened by several games with a spy/
political intrigue theme. Can you solve the
riddles and break the codes? Prizes will be
awarded for some of the games. The perfect
lead-in to Top Secret: An Interactive Film
Experience!
In cooperation with Labyrinth Games and
Puzzles.
Please note: arrival by 4 pm is suggested to
ensure sufficient playing time.
Drinks and snacks will be offered.
Tickets $5 | RSVP to
www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
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© Barbara Klemm
DISCOVERING
GEORGIAN
CINEMA
n FILM SERIES
January 12 –
February 2, 2015
Goethe-Institut,
GoetheForum
Discovering
Georgian
Cinema
Part of a retrospective of Georgian cinema organized by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA),
Discovering Georgian Cinema is presented in Washington, DC on the initiative of the National
Gallery of Art.
The larger retrospective from which this program has been selected was organized by Susan
Oxtoby (Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive) and Jytte Jensen (MoMA), with special
thanks to the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Embassy of Georgia, and the
Georgian National Film Center. Additional films will be screened at the Freer Gallery of Art,
the Embassy of France, and the American Film Institute.
In partnership with the National Gallery of Art, the Goethe-Institut Washington will present
nine Georgian films. The first and last screenings are by the director brothers Eldar and Giorgi
Shengelaia, famous in the then-Soviet Union for their films made in the 1960s through the 1980s.
These classics will frame several more contemporary films by Salome Alexi, Salomé Jashi, Nana
Ekvtimishvili, Simon Gross and Tinatin Gurchiani, directors who have all been influenced by
and connected to the German culture.
A reception sponsored by the Embassy of Georgia will follow the screening of Blue Mountains
in order to highlight the exclusive exhibition Photographs from Tbilisi in 1991 by Barbara
Klemm. These images show the Georgian capital after the fall of the USSR in a unique light.
A well-known German photographer, Barbara Klemm worked for the Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung for 45 years and has received several awards for her work, including her induction
into the Leica Hall of Fame.
See page 5 for more details on Barbara Klemm and a related exhibition of her work.
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More and the complete film schedule: www.nga.gov
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Left-right: Blue Mountains © Cinemavault | The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear © Icarus Films | Felicita © BAM/PFA Collection
Monday, January 12, 6:30 pm
Thursday, January 15, 6:30 pm
Blue Mountains aka An Unbelievable
Story (Tsisperi mtebi aka Daujerebeli
ambavil /Golubye gory)
An Unusual Exhibition
(Arachveulebrivi gomopena/Neobyknovennaya vystavka)
USSR, 1984, 97 min., Georgian with English subtitles,
Director: Eldar Shengelaia
USSR, 1968, 96 min., Russian with English subtitles,
Director: Eldar Shengelaia
Introduced by Peter Rollberg, Professor of
Slavic Languages, Film Studies and International
Affairs at George Washington University.
Blue Mountains is a charming and disarming
critique of bureaucracy. In a publishing house
in Tbilisi, a writer and his manuscript submission are all but ignored as the employees carry
on with their private affairs and outside
interests, oblivious to his needs.
Eldar Shengelaia is a Georgian and Soviet film
director and screenwriter. His films are
considered classics in Georgian film society.
Tuesday, January 13, 6:30 pm
The White Caravan
(Tetri karavani/ Belyy karavan)
USSR, 1964, 97 min., Georgian/ Russian with English
subtitles, Directors: Eldar Shengelaya, Tamaz Meliava
Amid a rugged landscape and the forces of
nature, a group of shepherds, led by the
experienced Martia and his sons, move their
flock to winter pastures. The rural way of life
is contrasted with the lure of the big city, and
one character’s decision to break with
tradition ultimately comes to haunt him.
Tamaz Meliava (b. 1929, d. 1972) was a Soviet
film director and screenwriter. He directed six
films between 1958 and 1973.
An Unusual Exhibition is a tragicomedy about
a sculptor who, in order to feed his family,
develops a niche carving tombstones bearing
the likeness of the now departed.
Monday, January 26, 6:30 pm
Felicità
Georgia, 2009, 30 min., Georgian with English subtitles,
Director: Salomé Alexi
Tamara lives and works in Italy. Her job allows
her to save up some money and support her
family in one of Georgia’s tiny villages. When
her husband dies in a car accident and she
finds herself unable to attend his funeral, she
participates via a long distance cellular call.
Salome Alexi studied Theatre Design and
Painting at the Tbilisi Academy of Fine Arts.
She currently lives in Hamburg, Germany.
and
Bakhmaro
Germany/ Georgia, 2011, 58 min., Georgian with English
subtitles, Director: Salomé Jashi
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A three-story brick building in a provincial
Georgian town. At the center of the building is
a restaurant where nobody eats and staff who
serve no one. Produced in Georgia and Germany,
Bakhmaro is a quiet, unhurried documentary
about the persistence of hope in the face of
irrelevancy.
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DISCOVERING
GEORGIAN
CINEMA
In Bloom © Big World Pictures
production companies in Germany and
Georgia.
Thursday, January 29, 6:30 pm
Pirosmani © National Archives of Georgia
Salomé Jashi is a Georgian-based documentary
filmmaker. Bakhmaro is her first film shot in
Germany.
Tuesday, January 27, 6:30 pm
Waiting for Mum (Deda)
Georgia, 2011, 8 min., Georgian with English subtitles,
Director: Nana Ekvtimishvili
A young man comes out of his apartment and
forgets his car keys. He shouts up at his mother
to get her to throw them out of the window
to him.
Nana Ekvtimishvili (b. 1978, Tbilisi) is a Georgian writer and director. She studied screenwriting and dramaturgy at the Konrad Wolf
University of Film and Television Art in
Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany.
and
In Bloom (Grzeli nateli dgeebi)
Georgia, 2013, 162 min., Georgian with English subtitles,
Directors: Nana Ekvtimishvili, Simon Gross
In Bloom is set in Georgia in the early 1990s,
during a time of political turbulence and hardship. Fourteen-year-old Natia and her best
friend Eka are at the center of the film, making
the best of circumstances in which choices
are limited, particularly for young women.
Simon Gross is a German director and producer
who studied film directing at the film school
in Munich, Germany. He founded his own
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The Machine Which Makes
Everything Disappear
(Manqana, romelic kvelafers gaaqrobs)
Georgia/ Germany, 2012, 101 min., Georgian with English
subtitles, Director: Tinatin Gurchiani
A film director organizes a casting call for 15to 23-year-olds, and the results form the basis
for a revealing portrait of Georgian society.
Tinatin Gurchiani (b. Tbilisi ) studied painting,
dance and psychology at the Saint Petersburg
State University in Tbilisi, the Albert-LudwigsUniversity in Freiburg, Germany, and the
University of Graz, Austria.
Monday, February 2, 6:30 pm
Pirosmani
USSR, 1969, 85 min., Georgian with English subtitles,
Director: Giorgi Shengelaia
Introduced by Peter Rollberg.
In his film about the life of the great Georgian
primitive artist Nikoloz (Niko) Pirosmanishvili
(1862–1919), Shengelaia avoids the usual clichés
of films about artists’ lives, instead experimenting with color control techniques based
on the painter’s style.
Giorgi Shengelaia is a Soviet and Georgian
film director. He has directed 14 films since
1961.
No charge. RSVP at
www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
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FESTIVALS
Au Revoir Les Enfants © Washington Jewish Film Festival
E-Waste © Media 3
n FILM FESTIVAL
n FILM FESTIVAL
February 19 – March 1, 2015
March 17 - 29, 2015
Various venues in DC and MD
Various venues
25th Annual Washington Jewish
Film Festival
23rd Environmental Film Festival
This exhibition of international cinema celebrates the diversity of Jewish history, culture
and experience through the moving image. In
addition to offering a selection of contemporary cinema, the Festival is partnering with the
Goethe-Institut to host WJFF Classics, a repertory series that reprises the best of international
Jewish cinema. A number screen at the
Goethe-Institut.
The Environmental Film Festival offers fresh
perspectives on issues around the world and
is the leading showcase for environmental films
in the United States.
No tickets or reservations necessary. Arrive
early as seating is limited. All films are in
English or have English subtitles.
www.dcenvironmentalfilmfest.org
All films are in English or have English subtitles.
Tickets and information: www.wjff.org
Tuesday, March 24, 6:30 pm
See the website for details on the films screening
at the Goethe-Institut and elsewhere.
www.wjff.org
The Farmer and His Prince
(Der Bauer und sein Prinz)
Last Metro © Washington Jewish Film Festival
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum
Deutschland, 2014, 80 min., Regie: Bertram Verhaag
This film depicts Prince Charles, who has the
vision to feed the world with organic agriculture
and heal damaged nature. Alongside his charismatic farm manager David Wilson, he has
been pursuing this goal for 30 years.
Wednesday, March 25, 6:30 pm
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum
The E-Waste Tragedy
France/Spain, 2014, 86 min., Director: Cosima Dannoritzer
This DC premiere will be introduced by
filmmaker Cosima Dannoritzer.
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ENVIRONMENT
Iron Curtain Trail © Michael Cramer
Presented in cooperation with
SPAIN arts & culture.
Jenny Erpenbeck © Katharina Behling
Every year, up to 50 million tons of electronic
waste are thrown away by consumers in the
developed countries. Much of it is dumped
illegally in the Third World.
Cosima Dannoritzer (b. 1965, Dortmund) is a
documentary filmmaker specializing in history,
ecology and the relationship between technology and society.
n DISCUSSION AND PRESENTATION
Friday, February 20, 12 – 2 pm
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum
Iron Curtain Trail
For almost half a century, Europe was forcibly divided into East and West by the “Iron
Curtain”, a border stretching from the Barents
Sea to the Black Sea. The European bicycle
track Iron Curtain Trail invites people to
retrace and experience this important part of
the continent’s history.
n READING
Friday, March 27, 12 pm
Library of Congress, Whittall Pavilion
Jenny Erpenbeck
Jenny Erpenbeck (born 1967, East Berlin)
is the author of several works of fiction,
including The Book of Words (Wörterbuch,
2007) and Visitation (Heimsuchung, 2010).
Her most recent novel, The End of Days
(Aller Tage Abend, 2012), won the prestigious Hans Fallada Prize in 2014, and
was translated into English by Susan
Bernofsky. Erpenbeck’s award-winning
narrative prose and plays have been
translated into many languages. She has
also worked as an opera director in
Germany and Austria.
In cooperation with the Poetry and
Literature Center and the European
Division of the Library of Congress.
RSVP at
www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
Michael Cramer, Member of the European
Parliament, ‘the godfather’ of this project
and chairman of the transportation committee in the European Parliament, will present
this bicycle trail and talk about its historical
and environmental implications.
In cooperation with the
Heinrich Böll Foundation
RSVP at
www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
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ZEITGEIST
Marjana Gaponenko
© Mathias Bothor/
Suhrkamp Verlag
Matthias Nawrat © Yves Noir
n READING AND DISCUSSION
Tuesday, February 24, 7:30 pm
Austrian Cultural Forum, 3524 International Court NW
Contemporary Voices:
Marjana Gaponenko,
Monique Schwitter,
Matthias Nawrat
An evening dedicated to emerging authors
in contemporary German literature.
Austrian author Marjana Gaponenko will
present her book Who is Martha (Wer ist
Martha?). It tells the story of Luka Lewadski:
a Ukrainian ornithologist and author. Old age
has crept up on him while he was busy with
his research and now he is ninety-six. He
doesn’t have much time left, his doctor tells
him. And he’s going to make good use of it,
Lewadski tells himself.
Marjana Gaponenko (b. 1981 in Odessa, Ukraine)
has been writing in German since she was
sixteen. Who is Martha? is her second novel.
It was awarded the 2013 Adelbert von Chamisso
Prize. She lives in Vienna and Mainz.
Vertigo is the title of one of Swiss author
Monique Schwitter’s stories in her 2011
collection Goldfish Memory (Goldfischgedächtnis).
And you might well become dizzy when you
read these unusual short stories. Are they
true or not?
Monique Schwitter (b. 1972 in Zurich) lives
and works in Hamburg. Her first volume of
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Monique Schwitter
© Matthias Oertel
short stories, When It Snows at the Crocodile’s
(Wenn’s schneit beim Krokodil), received the
2006 Robert Walser Prize for the best literary
debut of the year.
German author Matthias Nawrat tells the story
of a young girl in his novel Entrepreneur
(Unternehmer). Together with her father and
brother, she combs through the industrial
ruins of the Black Forest looking for scrap
items they can sell. Nawrat relates her story
while simultaneously caricaturing our current
achievement-oriented society.
Matthias Nawrat (b. 1979 in Opole, Poland)
lives in Berlin. His second novel, Entrepreneurs,
received the Kelag Prize (with a 10,000 Euro
endowment) at the 36th Annual Days of German
Literature in 2012. In 2013, Nawrat received
the Adelbert von Chamisso Prize.
Excerpts will be read in both German and
English. The writers will introduce and discuss
their work in English.
The event will conclude with a reception
provided by the Goethe-Institut, the Embassy
of Switzerland and the Austrian Cultural
Forum Washington.
RSVP at www.acfdc.org
Part of Zeitgeist DC, presenting contemporary
German literature in translation
www.zeitgeistdc.org
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Thursday 5, 7:30 pm
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The White Caravan
FILm/PaGE 11
Tuesday 13, 6:30 pm
Goethe-Institut
February 9 – march 16
Goethe-Institut
DEuTSCH am mITTaG/PaGE 19
Guided Tour of gute aussichten
Exhibition
What Do you Spy?
Goethe-Institut
Wednesday 4, 12 – 1:15 pm
GamES/PaGE 9
Goethe-Institut
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
FILm/PaGE 9
monday 2, 6:30 pm
George Washington University
Washington Concert Opera:
Strauss’ Guntram
mu S I C / P a G E 2 0
Sunday 1, 6 pm
marCH
Austrian Cultural Forum
Zeitgeist DC: Contemporary Voices
rEaDInG/PaGE 15
Tuesday 24, 7:30 pm
Kena Ballroom
Sunday 8, 3 - 6 pm
Goethe-Institut
Photographs from Tbilisi in 1991
by Barbara Klemm
Wagner Society
OPEnInG/PaGE 10
richard Strauss and Guntram
monday 12, 8:30 pm
Goethe-Institut
LECTurE/PaGE 20
Goethe-Institut
FILm/PaGE 11
American Goethe Society
Blue mountains aka
an unbelievable Story
monday 12, 6:30 pm
Brecht and the Bible: mother
Courage and her Children
LECTurE/PaGE 20
Goethe-Institut
Wednesday 4, 6:45 pm
FILm SErIES/PaGE 10
Discovering Georgian Cinema
January 12 – February 2
Goethe-Institut
Pirosmani
FILm/PaGE 12
Settlers of Catan Tournament
Goethe-Institut
monday 2, 6:30 pm
GamES
January 11, 2 – 6 pm
German-American Heritage Museum
FEBruary
Goethe-Institut
EXHIBITIOn
The Fall of the Berlin Wall – Seen
from an american Perspective
Washington Sängerbund
Fasching/mardi Gras Prize
masquerade Ball
SPECIaL EVEnT
The machine which makes
Everything Disappear
Saturday 21, 7 pm
FILm/PaGE 12
WInTEr 2015
Thursday 29, 6:30 pm
EVEnTS aT a GLanCE
Through Saturday, January 17
January
16
Inbetween Worlds
FILm/PaGE 18
Tuesday 7, 6:30 pm
aPrIL
Goethe-Institut
Superegos
FILm/PaGE 18
monday 30, 6:30 pm
Goethe-Institut
Film | neu Presents
FILm SErIES/PaGE 18
march 30 – april 13
Library of Congress
Zeitgeist DC: Jenny Erpenbeck
rEaDInG/PaGE 14
Thursday 27, 12 pm
Goethe-Institut
The E-Waste Tragedy
F I L m / P a G E 13
Tuesday 24, 6:30 pm
Library of Congress, Coolidge Auditorium,
Jefferson Building
Leipzig String
Quartet
SPECIaL EVEnT
Saturday 21, 2 pm
DEuTSCH am mITTaG/PaGE 5
Wednesday 14, 12 – 1:30 pm
Goethe-Institut
OPEnInG/PaGE 19
Goethe-Institut
Waiting for mum and In Bloom
FILm/PaGE 12
Tuesday 27, 6:30 pm
Goethe-Institut
Felicità and Bakhmaro
FILm/PaGE 11
monday 26, 6:30 pm
F I L m S E r I E S / P a G E 13
Goethe-Institut
Various Venues
23rd Environmental
Film Festival
F I L m F E S T I V a L / P a G E 13
Goethe-Institut
march 17 – 29
DISCuSSIOn/PaGE 14
Goethe-Institut
To Be Determined
FILm/PaGE 9
monday 16, 6:30 pm
Goethe-Institut
The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. mabuse
FILm/PaGE 9
monday 9, 6:30 pm
Deutsche Schule Washington D.C.
Open House at Preschool and
School Entry Level of the German School Washington D.C.
SPECIaL EVEnT
Friday 6, 9 am - 12 pm
Goethe-Institut
Iron Curtain Trail
Friday 20, 12 pm
DCJCC
25th annual Washington
Jewish Film Festival
February 19 – march 1
Goethe-Institut
Haber’s Photo Shop
FILm/PaGE 7
Tuesday 17, 6:30 pm
German-American Heritage Museum
Fasching, Fasnet, Karneval:
Wurzeln und Traditionen des
deutschen Karnevals
DEuTSCH am mITTaG
February 17, 12 – 1:15 pm
gute aussichten: new german
photography 2014/2015
For Eyes Only
Goethe-Institut
Thursday 5, 6 - 8 pm
Goethe-Institut
FILm/PaGE 7
monday 9, 6:30 pm
an unusual Exhibition
FILm/PaGE 11
Thursday 15, 6:30 pm
Goethe-Institut
Light and Dark: Photographs from
Germany by Barbara Klemm
OPEnInG/PaGE 5
Wednesday 14, 6 pm
Goethe-Institut
Light and Dark: Photographs from
Germany by Barbara Klemm
EXHIBITIOn/PaGE 5
January 14 - February 27
Goethe-Institut
Guided Tour through Light and
Dark Exhibition
gute aussichten: new german
photography 2014/2015
EXHIBITIOn/PaGE 19
Goethe-Institut
march 5 – may 1
FILm SErIES/PaGE 6
Top Secret:
an Interactive Film Experience
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
ute Lemper: Forever: The Love
Poems of Pablo neruda
COnCErT
Saturday 25, 8 pm
Goethe-Institut
Games Evening (Spieleabend)
GamES
Friday 17, 6 – 9 pm
Goethe-Institut
American Goethe Society
Streamlining Goethe:
Friedrich Schiller’s Stage
adaptation of “Egmont”
LECTurE/PaGE 20
Thursday 16, 6:45 pm
Goethe-Institut
I Feel Like Disco
FILm/PaGE 18
monday 13, 6:30 pm
Goethe-Institut
Events at the Goethe-Institut and the
German Embassy are subject to change.
Please visit our websites,
www.goethe.de/washington and
www.germany.info/dcevents, for updates.
Please note
s
kulturvergnügen | winter | 2015
17
Superegos © Komplizen Film
n FILM
March 30 – April 13, 2015
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum
Film | Neu Presents
Film | Neu, Washington’s annual festival of new
German-language cinema, runs for one week
every year. But there are far too many excellent
new German films to fit into just seven days.
Film|Neu Presents is a series showcasing new
German films year-round.
Inbetween Worlds © Independent Artists Filmproduktion
he help his interpreter, Tarik, in a life-threatening
situation, or should he follow orders?
Feo Aladag (b. 1972 Vienna) founded the
production company Independent Artists,
responsible for her debut as the producer,
director and writer of When We Leave (Die
Monday, March 30, 6:30 pm
Fremde, 2009), which received a number of
prizes including Best Film at the 2010 German
Superegos (Über-Ich und Du)
Film Awards. Her second feature, Inbetween
Germany, 2012, 93 min, Director: Benjamin Heisenberg
Worlds, was secretly shot on locations in the
Nick is in trouble and needs to disappear for a regions of Mazar-e Sharif and Kunduz in
bit. Through a friend, he is sent to a house in the Afghanistan.
countryside that’s supposed to be empty, but
discovers it’s inhabited by an elderly psychoanalyst, Curt. Nick jumps at the chance to take Monday, April 13, 6:30 pm
care of him, and Curt decides to secretly
analyze Nick – at least at first.
I Feel Like Disco (Ich fühl mich Disco)
All films are in German with English subtitles.
Germany, 2013, 95 min, Director: Axel Ranish
Benjamin Heisenberg (b. 1974, Tübingen) won
the Max Ophüls Prize for Best Movie, among
other awards, for his film Sleeper (Schläfer,
2005) as well as the Austrian Film Award for
The Robber (Räuber, 2010).
Tuesday, April 7, 6:30 pm
Inbetween Worlds (Zwischen Welten)
Germany, 2014, 103 min, Director: Feo Aladag
At an Afghani outpost, German soldier Jesper
comes into conflict with his conscience: should
I Feel Like Disco tells the story of a family
learning to accept each other. Slightly overweight Florian has trouble fitting in with
people and shows little interest in sports or
girls. When Florian’s mother Monika suffers a
stroke and slips into a coma, father and son
are forced to deal with each other and cope
with this new reality.
Axel Ranisch (b. 1983, Berlin) studied directing
at HFF Konrad Wolf in Potsdam Babelsberg.
His film Heavy Girls (Dicke Mädchen, 2011)
received the 2012 German Short Film Prize.
Tickets see page 31.
18
kulturvergnügen | winter | 2015
n EXHIBITION
NEW
PHOTOGRAPHY
March 5 – May 1, 2015
Goethe-Institut, FotoGalerie
gute aussichten:
new german photography 2014/2015
Opening reception with curators Josefine Raab and Stefan
Becht on Thursday, March 5, 6 – 8 pm.
RSVP at www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
“Germany’s most renowned competition for young photographers” - Spiegel
In its eleventh year, the eight “gute aussichten 2014/2015” award winners are hot on life’s
heels. This young generation of photographers is after the most basic and existential questions
of life: the banality of death and that which remains — or follows the deceased and vanishes
without a trace. Death, migration, discrimination, loneliness, isolation and desperation are put
face to face with happiness, cognizance, diversity and creative energy. The photographers
challenge us and give us a taste of the shape that we’re in — individually and in society as a
whole.
Karolin Back: What Is A Second When Next to It the World Stands Still? (2013)
Katharina Fricke: One Day in October. Or in November. Or in December. (2014)
Andrea Grützner: Tavern (2013/2014)
Marvin Hüttermann: It Has Not Been (2013/2014)
Stefanie Schroeder: Imaging an Image (2014)
Jannis Schulze: Quisqueya (2013/2014)
Kolja Warnecke: Traces. (2014)
Eduard Zent: Modern Tradition (2014)
www.guteaussichten.org
Gallery hours: M-Th 9-5; F 9-3
n DEUTSCH AM MITTAG
Friday, March 6, 12 – 1:15 pm
Guided Tour of gute aussichten:
new german photography
2014/2015
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
Curator Josefine Raab conducts
a tour through the exhibition.
For details and to rsvp, see
www.goethe.de/washington.
Photos:
Top left: Imaging an Image © Stefanie Schroeder
Bottom right: Tavern © Andrea Grützner
www.guteaussichten.org
kulturvergnügen | winter | 2015
19
Goethe
American
L iterature / P H I L O S O P H Y
L ecture ( in E nglish )
Society
L iterature / P H I L O S O P H Y
L ecture ( in E nglish )
Wednesday, February 4, 6:45 pm
Thursday, April 16, 6:45 pm
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum
Brecht and the Bible:
Mother Courage and her Children
Streamlining Goethe: Friedrich Schiller’s
stage adaptation of “Egmont”
Lecture by Dr. G. Ronald Murphy,
Professor of German, Georgetown University
Many productions of Mother Courage and her
Children fail because they do not get to the
heart of this play and its fear of death prevailing over life. Brecht is also sold short when his
work is treated simply as an anti-war protest.
Professor Murphy will take a careful look at
the biblical allusions and the underlying structure, based on the seasonal passage of time,
which reveal the feelings that give the play life.
Lecture by Dr. Kerstin Gaddy, Professor of
German and Assistant Dean at the Catholic
University of America
Goethe’s drama Egmont (1787) was not successful
in the theaters, and Goethe therefore asked
Schiller to create a Bühnenbearbeitung, first
performed in Weimar in 1796. Professor Gaddy
will examine how Schiller’s stage adaptation
moved away from the complexity and musicality of Goethe’s Egmont, and instead strived for
an overall simplification of the drama, much like
a modern screenplay.
Lectures are free and followed by refreshments but registration is required.
RSVP to Brigitte Fessenden – brigittefessenden@comcast.net or 443-542-2263
The American Goethe Society presents four public lectures annually primarily on German literature,
but also on philosophy, art, and music. Members are offered regular Saturday poetry luncheons (Lunch mit
Lyrik), held at area German restaurants, and monthly seminars on classic German plays. The Society is the
proud sponsor of the “Goethe Prize”, an annual award program recognizing outstanding high school
students of German in the Washington, DC metro area.
www.americangoethesociety.org
L ecture
Music
Thursday, February 5, 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 1, 6 pm
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum
George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium,
730 21st St. NW
Richard Strauss and Guntram
Maestro Antony Walker (Artistic Director,
Washington Concert Opera) and James
Holman (Chairman, The Wagner Society of
Washington, DC) discuss Richard Strauss.
Co-presented by the Washington Concert
Opera and The Wagner Society of
Washington, DC.
Tickets/reservations: 703-370-1923 or
www.wagner-dc.org
20
Strauss’ Guntram
Washington Concert Opera will present
Richard Strauss’ very first opera, Guntram,
which echoes Wagner and begins the young
Strauss’ journey toward becoming one of
the world’s most beloved opera composers.
Sung in German with projected English
translation
www.concertopera.org
kulturvergnügen || winter
winter | 2015
kulturvergnügen
© Sonja Tobias
ses at all levels begin
Winter German cour nuary 2015
5
the week of Ja
LEARN GERMANGET TO KNOW
GERMANY.
WWW.GOETHE.DE/WASHINGTON
kulturvergnügen | winter | 2015
21
FoGI
Enjoy German language and culture by becoming a
member of Friends of the Goethe-Institut (FOGI)
Friends of the Goethe-Institut
Member Highlight:
Julie Harris
Since I was interested in German language, movies, culture
and history, someone referred me to the Goethe-Institut,
and I joined Friends of the Goethe-Institut in 2008. I love
that the Goethe-Institut has a cozy feeling to it, and that
all the staff, from the front desk and audio visual expert
to the directors I’ve met, have been accessible and friendly.
The Goethe-Institut offers such a diverse range of activities,
from poetry readings and film festivals to artist performances.
I loved being a volunteer at Film|Neu 2014 and at the
recent Berlin Party with DJ Mesia celebrating the 25th
anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I also fondly
remember a full day of films in 2009 in which we focused on the topic of “fear”, watching
excerpts from different movies, discussing them, and then watching a complete film.
There is so much to do! Not only will you meet new people from Germany, but your
understanding of German culture will be enriched. I’m glad that I became a Friend of the
Goethe-Institut.
Visit and join Friends of Goethe at www.goethe.de/washington
or email fogi@washington.goethe.org to request a membership application.
Member Benefits:
n Invitations to special Goethe-Institut events
n Free or reduced admission to events by Goethe-Institut
and its partner organizations
n Invitations to a regular Deutsch am Mittag
n Discounts at selected cultural events in the city
n Discounts at restaurants near the Goethe-Institut
n Exclusive members-only events and private tours of
German-related exhibitions in Washington
n Additional benefits for Inner Circle members
Special Thanks:
22
Anonymous | Marion and Ashok Deshmukh | Dieter
Dettke and Gale Mattox | John and JoAnn Dullahan |
Willy Flegel | William and Kay Gilcher | William Patch
and Ingrid Sinclair-Day | Karin Rosnizeck and Darrel
West | Carter Wood
kulturvergnügen | winter | 2015
kulturvergnügen | winter | 2015
23
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Vertrauensarzt der Deutschen Botschaft
www.bestbethesdasmile.com
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301-656-8788
kulturvergnügen | winter | 2015
Celebrating
50 Years of
Excellence!
kulturvergnügen | winter | 2015
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kulturvergnügen | winter | 2015
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27
Addresses
The German Historical Institute
1607 New Hampshire Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20009
Phone: 202-387-3355
Fax: 202-483-3430
E-mail: info@ghi-dc.org
Web site: www.GHI-DC.org
German School Washington, DC
8617 Chateau Dr.
Potomac, MD 20854
Phone: 301-365-4400
Fax: 301-365-3905
E-mail: mail@dswash.org
Web site: www.dswashington.org
The Institute holds a number of
lecture series throughout the year.
Kindergarten, elementary, and high
school.
The German Information Center
4645 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: 202-298-4000
Fax: 202-471-5526
Web site: www.Germany.info
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) German Research
Foundation
1627 I Street NW, Suite 540
Washington, DC 20006-4020
Phone: 202-785-4206
Fax: 202-785-4410
E-mail: info@dfg-usa.org
Web site: www.dfg-usa.org
Dedicated to fulfilling the public
diplomacy mission at the German
Embassy by offering Americans a
window on modern Germany.
German National Tourist Office
122 East 42nd Street, Suite 2000
New York, NY 10168-0072
Phone: 212-661-7200
Fax: 212-661-7174
E-mail: GermanyInfo@germany.travel
Web site: www.germany.travel
Providing German tourism
information.
German Academic Exchange
Service (DAAD)
871 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017-1814
Phone: 212-758-3223
Fax: 212-755-5780
E-mail: daadny@daad.org
Web site: www.daad.org
A government-supported
organization of colleges and
universities in the Federal
Republic of Germany that
promotes relations with
universities abroad through the
exchange of students and
scholars.
28
The main German funding
organization for scientific research.
German Book Office
72 Spring Street, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10012
Phone: 212-794-2851
Fax: 212-794 2870
E-mail: stock@gbo.org
Web site: www.gbo.org
The German-American Heritage
Museum of the USA
719 6th Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-467-5000
Fax: 202-467-5440
E-mail: info@gahmusa.org
Web site: www.gahmusa.org
Television and Radio in German
For news information on the
Internet: www.ardmediathek.de
or www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek
Note: There are two German
language television
channels available by satellite to
Dish Network subscribers in the
US: the privately funded
ProSiebenSat1Welt, a mix of
German language shows of the
channels ProSieben, Kabel 1, N24
and Sat1; and Deutsche Welle
Television, programming that
alternates between English and
German by the hour from Germany’s
international broadcaster.
Deutsche Welle’s program is also
rebroadcast via local public
television stations in select cities
(check with your local provider).
More information at
www.dishnetwork. com.
German Lutheran Church
5500 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Bethesda, MD 20816
Phone/Fax: 301-365-2678
E-mail: info@glcwashington.org
Web site: www.glcwashington.org
The United Church +
Die Vereinigte Kirche
1920 G Street NW
Washington, DC 20006-4303
Phone: 202-331-1495
Fax: 202-530-0406
E-mail: info@theunitedchurch.org
Web site: www.theunitedchurch.org
German Speaking Catholic
Mission Washington, DC
Rectory: 6330 Linway Terrace,
McLean, VA 22101
Masses: Georgetown
Preparatory School
10900 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20852-3299
Phone: 703-356-4473
Fax:
703-356-4558
E-mail: kontakt@kathde.org
Web site: www.kathde.org
Zion Church
of the City of Baltimore
City Hall Plaza
400 East Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
Phone: 410-727-3939
Fax:: 410-468-0174
E-mail: zionbaltimore@verizon.net
Web site: www.zionbaltimore.org
kulturvergnügen | winter | 2015
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kulturvergnügen | winter | 2015
812 Seventh St. NW, Washington, DC 20001-3718
Phone: 202-289-1200 Fax: 202-289-3535
We are located between H and I Streets, one block
from Massachusetts Avenues in northwest Washington.
See our website for directions and parking options.
The Goethe-Institut is a non-profit organization
with headquarters in Munich. It is Germany’s
operational partner for the development and
implementation of a foreign cultural policy – one
based on dialogue between Germany in the context
of Europe and countries and cultures around the
world. In addition to a grant from the German
Foreign Office, the organization also generates its
own funds.
Metro:
Gallery Place/Chinatown (exit at 7th and H Streets)
Red, Yellow, and Green Lines
On behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany,
cultural institutes around the world provide cultural
programs, language courses, support to educators
and local authorities instrumental in promoting the
German language, as well as up-to-date information
on Germany. Institutes all over Germany a variety
of immersion language courses.
Email: info@washington.goethe.org
Website: www.goethe.de/washington
There are six institutes in the United States.
Founded in 1990, Goethe-Institut Washington
promotes German culture and language.
The Goethe-Institut Washington is
wheelchair accessible.
Opening Hours:
Monday-Thursday 9 am – 5 pm; Friday 9 am – 3 pm
Sign up for the weekly newsletter on our website.
Tickets: $7/$4 (for Members, seniors,
and students with ID). Purchase online at
www.boxofficetickets.com/goethe or
at the box office during regular office hours.
www.facebook.com/GoetheDC
www.twitter.com/GoetheDC
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
4645 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: 202-298-4000
Cultural Affairs Department: 202-298-4315
Fax: 202-298-4317
The newsletters of the German Embassy
are the best way to stay current on the latest
events and trends in Germany and
E-mail: culture@wash.diplo.de
Web site: www.Germany.info
German-American relations:
© Wood Powell © Toolbox DC
Follow us on facebook and twitter:
• German Cultural Events, Washington DC
www.facebook.com/GermanEmbassyWashington
• The Week in Germany (in English)
http://twitter.com/GermanyinUSA
• Deutschland-Nachrichten (in German)
• Germany in Class (for Teachers; in English))
Visit www.germany.info/newsletter and
sign up for the newsletters of your choice.
kulturvergnügen | winter | 2015
The German Embassy is wheelchair accessible
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kulturvergnügen | winter | 2015
design: amfgraphics@aol.com
GERMAN CULTURAL EVENTS WINTER | 2015
Help us keep our database up-to-date and save on mailing costs.
Email changes to us at info@washington.goethe.org or call 202-289-1200
www.germany.info
4645 Reservoir Road, NW
Washington, DC 20007
812 Seventh Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
www.goethe.de/washington