Film Screenings / Programs / Retrospectives
EDGAR REITZ
September 8 – September 10
On the occasion of our week-long premiere run of his new film, HOME FROM HOME (the continuation of his monumental HEIMAT saga), we present a weekend of earlier works by Edgar Reitz, a key figure in postwar German cinema. As one of the signatories of the Oberhausen Manifesto – the group statement delivered in 1962 that was intended to shake up a contemporary German commercial cinema that the signers perceived as tired and aesthetically bankrupt – Reitz was part of the generation of filmmakers who helped create the New German Cinema movement, fostering the rise of auteurs like Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, and Volker Schlöndorff. After directing a number of remarkable short films throughout the 1950s and 60s, he joined forces with Alexander Kluge and others to found the first German film school, the Institut für Filmgestaltung in Ulm, where he taught until it was closed in 1968. He collaborated with Kluge on several films as well, shooting YESTERDAY GIRL (1965-66) and later co-directing THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD IS A VERY DEAD END (1974).
Though not as well known in the U.S. as some of his New German Cinema peers, Reitz is legendary in Germany and among cognoscenti, above all for his series of HEIMAT films. Beginning in 1984 with the 15-plus hour HEIMAT: A CHRONICLE OF GERMANY, this series has grown to comprise three multi-episode series and two shorter (but still epic) feature films, all of which add up to a total running time of more than 50 hours. Tracing the history of Germany from the early 19th century to the present day, HEIMAT is a towering achievement.
While the HEIMAT films have seen distribution in the U.S., as well as home-video releases, Reitz’s other films are virtually unknown here. In an attempt to begin to remedy that, we will be highlighting two of his feature films from the 1960s and 70s, as well as presenting a selection of his short films, whose mastery of documentary and avant-garde techniques demonstrate Reitz’s astonishing versatility.
The Edgar Reitz program is co-presented with the Goethe-Institut New York, and organized with the assistance of Corinth Films; special thanks to Wenzel Bilger & Sara Stevenson (Goethe-Institut New York) and John Poole Jr. (Corinth Films).
HEIMAT is available on DVD from the Goethe-Institut New York’s Library at 30 Irving Place; for more info visit: www.goethe.de/ins/us/en/sta/ney/bib.html
Please note that due to a Lufthansa strike Edgar Reitz was forced to cancel his trip to NYC and will not be appearing in person. He has recorded a video introduction which we'll be playing before all HOME FROM HOME screenings. Our apologies for any inconvenience.
Also note that the Goethe-Institut New York (30 Irving Place) will be hosting a special event on Saturday, September 12 at 4pm, with Edgar Reitz in conversation with scholar Johannes von Moltke. Though Reitz can not be there in person, he'll be joining the conversation via video conference! Click here for more info.
