What is the German word for cinephile? “Cinephile”! Germany has its own illustrious film culture and history, with a lineage of giants bearing names like F.W. Mureau, Fritz Lang, Ernst Lubitsch, Max Ophuls in the realm of classic cinema. Subsequent key names include Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Volker Schlöndorff, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Tom Tykwer, Margarethe von Trotta and many more.
To ensure that this tradition is equally appreciated by American audiences, the Goethe Institut Los Angeles and the American Cinematheque joins forces annually for a festival, presented in cooperation with the German Consulate General, with the support of The Friends of Goethe, Amawaterways, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Deutsche Welle, and German Films. This year’s festival also marks the Year of German-American Friendship 2018/19.
German Currents opens at the Egyptian on October 11 with Andreas Dresen’s multi-award winning film, GUNDERMANN, a biographical portrait of the extraordinary and contradictory life of East German singer/songwriter Gerhard “Gundi” Gundermann. In a year that marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, GUNDERMANN engages with the subject. Andreas Dresen will be in Los Angeles to shepherd his film. We’re going!
German Currents film festival | Egyptian Theatre | weekend of Oct 11 | tickets