Germanics Film Series
Before everyone had the opportunity to watch films in isolation on a little screen, cinema was a social act. So for the current departmental film series, we encouraged students to join us for screenings followed by discussions, which revealed really intriguing thoughts and, at times, creative films analysis skills.
In fall quarter, I curated an embassy-sponsored film series on German and American film collaborations, entitled Heimat Meets Hollywood. Films included recent takes on film styles and genre cinema, including western, film noir, and horror. As more critics are pushing for greater representations of women both in front of and behind the film camera in a business dominated by men and their stories, I curated a list of German films by female filmmakers. We screened a variety of films, starting with Nicolette Krebitz’s daring film Wild. The students especially appreciated the screening of Maria Speth’s 9 Leben, a timely documentary about homelessness in Berlin. We ended the series with a well-attended screening of Maren Ade’s Oscar-nominated Toni Erdmann. A special thanks to Stephanie Welch who took the time to create a remarkable series of posters and to the Max Kade Fellows, Aaron and Nic, who assisted with the screenings. I am currently working on the film series for next quarter, tentatively entitled Science.Fiction.Film. I envision shorter screenings, followed by short conversations in German and English.
-Jasmin Krakenberg
