kultur
vergnügen
german
cultural
events
2015
fall |
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
1
welcome
Welcome to the Fall 2015 issue of Kulturvergnügen, presenting many exciting
opportunities to engage with German language and culture in greater Washington, DC.
After twelve years in the heart of DC’s bustling Chinatown, the Goethe-Institut
is embarking on a new journey. In 2016, we will transition to becoming the
regional institute for North America, with a wider range of responsibilities and
additional staff. Coinciding with this growth, the lease on our lovely space is
expiring at the end of 2015. While we search for a new permanent home over
the next few years, we will be temporarily located at 1990 K Street NW, a few
blocks from the Farragut North and Farragut West Metro stations.
The coming months therefore mark the end of a significant era. The Goethe-Institut
debuted in Washington in 1990; our Kino (theater) opened its doors in 2003. Through
language courses and programs organized by ourselves and groups using our space
(a total of 42,000 visitors in 2014), we have established a strong presence within Washington’s
cultural fabric. Although we are restructuring and relocating, we remain committed to the
transatlantic cultural dialogue, and look forward to welcoming you to our new space in
early 2016.
As an ode to the hours of enjoyment and thought-provoking discussions in our theater,
we’ve organized a series entitled Kino 2003-2015: Your Favorite Films (Nov. 2 - Dec. 7),
featuring some of the greatest German cinematic hits over the past twelve years. Also
in the realm of film, the 23rd edition of the ever-popular Film|Neu festival returns (Nov.
6-12), presenting the hottest new films from Germany, Switzerland and Austria at Landmark’s E Street Cinema. More: www.filmneu.org
We continue our focus on issues of pressing societal relevance. Surveillance Blind addresses
the debate between privacy and public life. Forging the Future continues its look at ideas
for a better, sustainable future. We will also lend a cross-cultural perspective to issues of
migration/immigration, image wars, digital culture and America’s image in the world.
Musical offerings range from a song cycle at the Kennedy Center mixing Wagner and
the blues (Sept. 25 & 26), to a church choir from Hamburg on its East Coast tour (Oct. 22
& 24), to the vivacious and innovative ATOS Trio from Berlin, performing at the Library
of Congress (Oct. 16).
Of course, the fall season would not be complete without some of the most beloved
festivities of the year: the many regional Oktoberfeste, the sour beef dinners of the Zion
Church in Baltimore, the annual Christmas Concert of the Washington Sängerbund in
the United Church, and many more. Add to this the more recent traditions of the Kids
Euro Festival and EU Film Showcase (28th edition!) at the AFI Silver Theatre, and the full
cultural cornucopia of the fall season comes into focus!
Wilfried Eckstein
Director, Goethe-Institut Washington
Cave of Forgotten Dreams © IFC Films
2
Carsten Ruepke
Head, Cultural Department, German Embassy
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
ATOS Trio © Steven Haberland
Switzerland and Austria
| 2 015
n Kino 2003-2015: Your Favorite Films
n Immigration
11
12-13
20
Exhibitions
n Surveillance Blind
n Justine Otto: hyder flares n Future Perfect Project
5
10
15
Music
n Wagner, Max! Wagner! 8
n ATOS Trio 9
n Kantorei Groß-Flottbek
9
THEATER
n Kids Euro Festival
18
Literature
n Felicitas Hoppe: Empires Facing Each Other
7
Discussion
n On Hype-Cycles, Post-Internet and
© Aleš Šteger
How the Digital Became Fashionable
n Iconoclash
n The Forgotten Luther
10
19
19
Digital Audio
n Hear Now Fall 2015 14
Martin Luther, by Lucas Cranach the Elder
The Drift © Langfilm
Language
German Courses 21, 26
Friends of the Goethe-Institut Addresses
Tickets and Electronic Newsletter About Us 23 28 31
31
Cover Images (top to bottom):
Pina © Neue Road Movies GmbH
Go Trabi Go © Global Screen GmbH
Burden of Dreams ©Janus Films
Who Am I © Sony Pictures Releasing GmbH
Cave of Forgotten Dreams © IFC Films
Burden of Dreams ©Janus Films
Kebab Connection © Goethe-Institut
Late Bloomers © Telepool GmbH
Kebab Connection © Goethe-Institut
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
3
Table of Contents FALL
Bagdad Cafe © Leora Films
Films
n Surveillance Blind 4-5
n Picturing America 6
n Film|Neu: New Films from Germany,
SURVEILLANCE
B LI N D
Surveillance Blind
The Lies of the Victors,
Lilith Stangenberg
© Martin Menke
Transatlantic relations include a widely-held
belief that privacy is a common Western value.
But, as the tensions surrounding the so-called
NSA-Scandal have revealed, that conviction
can become a source of misunderstanding
when dramatically different approaches to
privacy come into conflict.
Surveillance Blind, an exhibition and accompanying film program focusing on the demarcation of privacy and surveillance, explores
this complex field. With this program, the Goethe-Institut aims to contribute to a better
understanding of what privacy means within the context of social and political ideals
among western democracies.
Made possible with support from Friends of the Goethe-Institut.
n FILM SERIES
September 14 – 28, 2015
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum
Surveillance Blind
What are the consequences of uncovering
stories government or industry would rather
not have revealed to the public? The documentary and feature films in this series explore
this issue from different perspectives. They
illustrate the risks assumed by whistleblowers
and investigative journalists, and the potential ramifications their families face.
Monday, September 14, 6:30 pm
The Lies of the Victors
(Die Lügen der Sieger)
Germany, 2014, 112 min., Director: Christoph Hochhäusler
Renowned journalist Fabian Groys is working
at a political news magazine, researching a politically-charged story about dubious government policies concerning the disabled in the
army. When he starts receiving anonymous
threats, Groys realizes that someone is trying
to stop him.
Christoph Hochhäusler (b. 1972) is a German
film director and screenwriter. His film The
Lies of the Victors premiered at the Film Festival
Rome in 2014.
Monday, September 21, 6:30 pm
The Family (Die Familie)
Germany, 2013, 92 min., Director: Stefan Weinert
Director Stefan Weinert will be present
for a discussion following the screening.
“A two-year suspended sentence for firing the
fatal shot. Imagine that.” Even today, more
than a quarter of a century after the collapse
of East Germany, family members of those
shot along the Berlin Wall continue to suffer
the trauma of their loss. This documentary
contrasts the statements of those affected with
parallel entries in the Stasi files - formulated
in a cold, bureaucratic German - and shows
how the two sides collide.
Stefan Weinert (b. 1964) is a German actor,
director and producer. The Family is Weinert’s
second documentary about the GDR dictatorship. It is the winner of the 2014 Cinema for
Peace Award.
In cooperation with the
Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
RSVP at
www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
Tickets see page 31.
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kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
Tell me I’m not making a mistake.
Tell me you’re worth the wait. #fb
Geolocation: Worth the Wait, 2011 © Nate Larson & Marni Shindelman
Monday, September 28, 6:30 pm
Silenced
United States, 2014, 102 min., Director: James Spione
Director James Spione will be present for a
discussion following the screening.
In this documentary, three former American
federal employees share their experiences of the
consequences they faced for whistleblowing
in the age of the War on Terror.
James Spione is an Oscar-nominated director,
producer and writer of documentary and
fiction films.
Tickets see page 31.
n EXHIBITION
September 17 - December 3, 2015
Goethe-Institut, FotoGalerie
Surveillance Blind
Opening Thursday, September 17, 6 – 9 pm
6 – 7:30 pm Discussion with the artists
7:30 – 9 pm Reception
RSVP at
www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
As technology has evolved, so have our fundamental ways of understanding the world.
Data and information flows around us and is
used to track our consumer habits, shape our
identities, and mediate our relationships to
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
our nation states. Who controls and makes
use of the information generated by our
sharing society is a question being challenged
and contested worldwide. The artists in this
exhibition investigate the paradox of these
connections, probing our relationship to data
collection and interpretation.
AnnieLaurie Erickson (New Orleans, Louisiana,
USA) photographs server farms and other physical
infrastructure that make the cloud possible.
Nate Larson (Baltimore, Maryland, USA) and
Marni Shindelman (Athens, Georgia, USA)
collaboratively collect publicly available embedded GPS information in Twitter updates
to track the locations of user posts and make
photographs to mark the location in the real world.
Simon Menner (Berlin, Germany) spent two
years recovering the archive of the Federal
Commissioner for the Stasi Archives of the former
German Democratic Republic (BStU) and reshapes it
to reveal the underlying structures of control.
Jens Sundheim (Dortmund, Germany) extensively researches security cameras that have a
public feed and then travels to those locations
to record an imprint of the artist in the technological eye.
John Vigg (Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA)
uses homemade drone technology and appropriated satellite images to map the remote area
Pine Barrens region of southern New Jersey.
Curated by Nate Larson
5
PICTURING
AMERICA
Friendship © Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion
n FILM SERIES
October 5 – 26, 2015
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum
Bagdad Cafe
© Leora Films
Great Snake © DEFA Film Library
film company DEFA. The Western Chingachgook
was his last and most successful movie produced
for the big screen, and was very popular with
its East German audience.
Picturing America
Ever since America was “discovered” by Europeans, Germans have imagined what life must
be like in the new land. First, they imagined
the endless prairies of the Wild West and the
rough life on the frontiers, and thought of the
Native Americans as “noble savages.” Later,
they began to see that the deserts were also
desolate and inhospitable. In the second half
of the 20th century, Germans began to dream
of road trips on the famous Route 66 to experience firsthand this young, industrious nation
that seemed to be constantly on the move.
The Goethe-Institut shows three German films
(with English subtitles) which demonstrate how
the German picture of America has evolved
over time.
Monday, October 5, 6:30 pm
Chingachgook, The Great Snake
(Chingachgook, die Große Schlange)
East Germany, 1967, 91 min., Director: Richard Groschopp
In the years before the French and Indian War,
Great Britain tries to expel the French from North
America. Both empires involve their Indian allies in their fights. As a result, around 1740, a
bitter tribal feud is raging between the Hurons
and the Delaware. Can the legendary Chigachgook succeed in his attempt to convince the
Hurons that it is European empires who fight
this war and that Indian tribes should stay
out of it?
Richard Groschopp (1906-1996) was a German
film director, screenwriter and producer who
made numerous films for the East German
6
Monday, October 19, 6:30 pm
Bagdad Café (Out of Rosenheim)
Germany/USA, 1987, 104 min., Director: Percy Adlon
When a German couple gets into a fight on
their trip through California, Jasmin finds herself stranded in the desolate town of Bagdad.
Although the locals eye her with suspicion at
first, she slowly makes new friends. But unfortunately, her visa is not valid forever.
Percy Adlon (b. 1935) is a German film and
television director. He won the Bavarian Film
Award for Best Director in 1982 and 1991.
Monday, October 26, 6:30 pm
Friendship!
Germany, 2010, 110 min., Director: Markus Goller
The Berlin Wall has just fallen and Tom and
Veit, two young East Germans, decide to travel to San Francisco to see the Golden Gate
Bridge and to look for Veit’s father, who fled
East Germany twelve years earlier. Having
only enough money to fly to New York, they
decide to hitchhike the remaining 3,000 miles
to San Francisco. They come up with lots of
humorous ideas to earn cash along the way,
including promotion of their own film about
East Germany.
Markus Goller (b. 1969) is a German film director
and editor. Friendship! won the 2010 Bavarian
Film Prize and the 2011 MTV Movie Award for
Best German Film.
Tickets see page 31.
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
© Ilja Ilf
Original Route 1935 Map © Ilja Ilf
n READING AND DISCUSSION
Monday, October 12, 6:30 pm
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum
Empires Facing Each Other:
Little Golden America
with Felicitas Hoppe
Felicitas Hoppe
© Tobias Bohm
“If America were Soviet,
it would be paradise.”
– from Little Golden America
The famous Russian writer duo Ilya Ilf and
Yevgeny Petrov traveled to America on behalf
of the Russian newspaper Pravda for three
months in the 1930s, at the height of the
Stalinist terror and the Great Depression. Covering more than 10,000 miles in their mousegrey Ford, they crisscrossed the country from
east to west, south to north, visiting hundreds
of cities and towns. Ilf and Petrov, as they are
commonly known, wanted to document “the
other America,” the countryside and small
towns beyond the skyscrapers. Under the title
Little Golden America, the two satirists’ travelogue is an independent-minded, fascinating
combination of words and photos that reflects
the tension between the USSR and the USA
during the emergence of fascism in Europe.
This September and October, eighty years later, German writer Felicitas Hoppe and visual
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
Alexej Meschtschanow
© Jan Stradtmann
Jana Müller
© Till AD Cremer
artists Alexej Meschtschanow and Jana Müller
examine Ilf and Petrov’s writings on the EastWest relationship as they retrace the Russian duo’s
original route. Das eingeschossige Amerika
(published in German for the first time in 2011
by the Andere Bibliothek, with a foreword by
Hoppe) is particularly poignant now, in light
of current global political developments.
Reading in German and English.
Felicitas Hoppe (*1960, Hameln) lives in Berlin.
The author of various novels, including
Johanna (2006) and Sieben Schätze (2009),
she has received numerous awards for her
writing, including the Aspekte Literature Prize
(1996) and most prestigious German literary
prize, the Georg Büchner Prize (2012). In 2012,
Hoppe was a fellow at the Villa Aurora in Los
Angeles, where she met Meschtschanow and
Müller.
No charge. RSVP at
www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
7
MUSIC
© Goethe-Institut
Stew & Heidi Rodewald © Stew Rodewald
n MU S I C A N D P OE T R Y
n FESTIVAL
Friday – Saturday,
September 25 – 26, 7 pm
Saturday, September 26, 7 pm – midnight
Kennedy Center Terrace Theater,
2700 F St., NW
Wagner, Max! Wagner!
Stew & Heidi Rodewald
(United States)
Approaching Wagner with an innovative new
form, the Kennedy Center presents a cocommissioned song cycle created by Tony and
Obie Award winners Stew & Heidi Rodewald
(Passing Strange). Through song, poetry, text,
and video, the work irreverently creates and
explores the surprising connection between
the music-myths of both Wagner and the blues,
blending Wagner’s best-known melodies
within the acclaimed creators’ eclectic mix of
rock and cabaret music.
Goethe-Institut
Art All Night DC
The Goethe-Institut joins this late-night
exploration and celebration of contemporary
art with its exhibition Surveillance Blind (see
page 5) and a sampling of other cultural
offerings (to be determined). Art All Night DC
continues until 3 am in five of DC’s most vibrant
neighborhoods: Dupont Circle, Shaw, North
Capitol, H Street NE, and Congress Heights.
www.artallnightdc.org
90 minutes. Recommended for ages 15+.
Tickets $40 at www.kennedy-center.org
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kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
“ATOS has risen steadily
through the ranks to become
one of the elite piano trios
before the public today.”
- Washington Post
n C oncert
Friday, October 16, 8 pm
Library of Congress Coolidge Auditorium,
Thomas Jefferson Building
ATOS Trio
Performing for the first time in the Coolidge
Auditorium, Germany’s acclaimed ATOS
Trio brings impeccable musicianship and
an exploratory edge to its renditions of
piano trios old and new. The strings are featured in the premiere of a new Library
of Congress commission by composer Michael
Hersch. Ernest Bloch’s Three Nocturnes offer
a striking contrast to the first piano trio of his
erstwhile student, Leon Kirchner. Beethoven’s
monumen-tal op. 97 piano trio, dedicated to his
friend and supporter Archduke Rudolf of Austria, closes the program.
Program:
L. Kirchner Trio (1954)
Hersch Carrion-Miles to Purgatory thirteen
pieces after texts of Robert Lowell (Commissioned by the Hans Kindler Foundation Trust
Fund in the Library of Congress) -- World premiere
Bloch Three Nocturnes
Beethoven Piano Trio in B-flat major, op. 97
(“Archduke”)
Tickets: www.loc.gov/concerts
Pre-Concert Conversation
With composer Michael Hersch and Kay Redfield
Jamison, Professor of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine, at 6:30 pm in
the Whittall Pavilion.
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
ATOS Trio © Steven Haberland
Thursday, October 22, 8 pm
Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol St NE,
Washington, DC
Saturday, October 24, 7 pm
Zion Church of the City of Baltimore,
400 E Lexington St, Baltimore, MD
Hamburg Choir Kantorei Groß-Flottbek
The Hamburg-based mixed choir Kantorei
Groß-Flottbek, comprising about 50 singers,
participates in divine worship and gives several
concerts each year, collaborating with the
other church music ensembles. Its repertoire
includes great oratorios with the chamber
orchestra, classical a cappella works and liturgy
in Gregorian style.
Concert tours have taken the choir to Spain,
Israel, Russia and other countries. This tour on
the eve of the fifth centennial of the Protestant
Reformation is devoted to German sacred
church music.
Made possible with support from the
Goethe-Institut, this tour features
performances in Washington, Baltimore,
Philadelphia, and New York City
from October 22-29.
9
CONTEMPORARY
Thinks Behind the Sun, 40 x 50 cm, oil on canvas © Justine Otto
ART
n EXHIBITION AND CONCERT
n DISCUSSION
August 20 – September 4, 2015
Wednesday, September 2, 6:30 pm
Goethe-Institut, FotoGalerie
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden auditorium,
700 Independence Ave. SW
Justine Otto: hyder flares
Opening on Thursday, August 20, 6 – 8 pm
with artist Justine Otto
RSVP at
www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
Leading contemporay figurative painter Justine
Otto (b. 1974, Poland) won The Phillips Collection’s second annual Emerging Artist Prize following
Washington’s 2014 (e)merge art fair. The German
artist’s representational pictures literally burn
themselves into the viewer’s retina, simultaneously fascinating and disturbing.
The exhibition will be introduced by Vesela
Sretenovic, Senior Curator of Modern and
Contemporary Art at The Phillips Collection
7:30 pm
Concert with Jazz Trio:
Michael Formanek – bass (USA)
Eric Kennedy – drums (USA)
And surprise guest from Germany (alto saxophone)
Lunch Bytes #38
On Hype-Cycles, Post-Internet and
How the Digital Became Fashionable
On the occasion of the publication of No Internet,
No Art. A Lunch Bytes Anthology, this talk
examines how art and digital culture have
changed since the inception of the Lunch Bytes
discussion series in 2011. Artists, curators, and
writers from Germany, Switzerland, and the US
address the increasing interest in Internetrelated art and discuss how hype and trends
govern the tides of the art world and how
digital technologies play into these dynamics.
Moderated by curator Melanie Bühler, Amsterdam
Organized in cooperation with the
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
and the
Embassy of Switzerland in the United States.
Made possible with support from
Friends of the Goethe-Institut.
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kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
The Drift © Langfilm
Who Am I © Sony Pictures Releasing GmbH
n FILM FESTIVAL
FILM
FESTIVAL
November 6 – 12, 2015
Landmark’s E Street Cinema and the Goethe-Institut
Victoria © Adopt Films, LLC
Film|Neu
New Films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Now in its 23rd year, Washington’s leading German-language film event presents a weeklong
glimpse into the trends and film cultures in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The lineup will
include award winners such as German director Sebastian Schipper’s acclaimed drama Victoria, shot
in a single take, recipient of six Lolas at this year’s German Film Awards. Youth culture will be
the focus of several films, including the Berlin-set Who Am I (Who Am I – Kein System ist sicher),
which transforms the hotly-debated topic of internet hacking into a gripping cyber thriller, and
the suspense and smoke-filled The Drift (Driften) by Swiss director Karim Patwa. Together with
seven additional films, this week of new German films is a not-to-be missed favorite in Washington’s cultural scene.
www.filmneu.org
Film|Neu is a project of the Goethe-Institut Washington, the Austrian Cultural Forum, and the
Embassy of Switzerland, and is made possible with support from German Films and Friends of
the Goethe-Institut.
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
11
KINO
2 003 -2015
Kebab Connection © Goethe-Institut
n FILM SERIES
Late Bloomers © Telepool GmbH
Go Trabi Go © Global Screen GmbH
Germany. The screenplay was co-written by
the well-known German director Fatih Akin.
November 2 – December 14, 2015
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum
Monday, November 16, 6:30 pm
Kino 2003-2015: Your Favorite Films
Late Bloomers (Die Herbstzeitlosen)
Since 2003, the Goethe-Institut has screened
films covering many topics and spanning all
genres – documentaries and dramas, comedies
and silent films, TV shows and shorts – in our
lovely, state-of-the-art Kino (cinema) here in
Washington’s Chinatown neighborhood. This
series says farewell to our Kino before we
move in January. An ode to the great moments
audiences have experienced in our cinema,
the series brings together films which have
enjoyed the most success here over the past
12 years, including two 3D options. All films
will be shown in English or in German with
English subtitles.
Monday, November 2, 6:30 pm
Kebab Connection
Germany, 2005, 96 min., Director: Anno Saul
Hamburg-born Ibrahim “Ibo” Secmez aspires
to make the first German kung-fu movie. To
hone his craft, Ibo has made a razzle-dazzle
cinema ad for Kebab Connection, the fast food
stand run by his tightly-wrapped Uncle Ahmet.
Ibo’s plans are derailed, however, by his impregnation of lovely and mature German
girlfriend Titzi.*
Anno Saul (b. 1963) is a German screenwriter
and film director. Kebab Connection won the 2005
Audience Award at the Film Festival Turkey/
12
Switzerland, 2006, 90 min., Director: Bettina Oberli
This rich Swiss confection is about realizing
your dreams — no matter what they are, how
long it takes or how much they may offend
local sensibilities. Some nine months after her
grocer husband’s gone through the big checkout, 80-year-old former seamstress Martha
decides to transform their modest shop in her
picturesque Emmental Valley village into a
saucy lingerie business called “Little Paris”.
Switzerland’s official entry for the 2008
foreign film Oscar sweepstakes. *
Bettina Oberli (b. 1972) is a Swiss film director
and screenwriter. Late Bloomers was the second most-viewed film in Switzerland in 2007.
Oberli’s film Tannöd (2009) was nominated
for the Swiss Film Prize in the category Best
Feature Film.
Monday, November 23, 6:30 pm
Go Trabi Go
Germany, 1991, 92 min., Director: Peter Timm
How does a Trabi become a convertible? After
German reunification, East German teacher Udo
Struutz decides to take his family on a road
trip to Naples in their blue Trabant “Schorsch”
to trace Goethe’s footsteps. The trip is not
without its incidents, however, and the Trabi
gradually morphs into a colorful convertible
complete with West German parts.
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
Burden of Dreams ©Janus Films
Pina © Neue Road Movies GmbH
Cave of Forgotten Dreams © IFC Films
Peter Timm (b. 1950) is a German film director and screenwriter. He was banished from
East Germany in 1973 because of his critical
thinking. His first film, Meier (1986), won the
Bavarian Film Award; Go Trabi Go was nominated for a German Film Award.
Monday, November 30, 6:30 pm
Burden of Dreams (Die Last der Träume)
natural setting. Herzog makes use of the contours of these rock paintings as the starting
point for a philosophical meditation on the
origins of the art of film as well as fundamental
questions of human existence.*
Werner Herzog (b. 1942) is a German film
director, producer, actor and writer. Considered
one of the greatest figures of the New German
Cinema, Herzog received the Honorary Award
of the German Film Prize for outstanding contributions to German Film.
USA, 1981, 95 min., Director: Les Blank
This film documents the making of Werner
Herzog’s popular film Fitzcarraldo in the
jungles of Peru and Ecuador. It captures the
chaos and the problems with the weather, the
actors, and the eccentric and driven director.
It includes rare footage of Mick Jagger and
Jason Robards, who dropped out of the project
before Fitzcarraldo was finished.
Les Blank (1935–2013) was an American documentary filmmaker. Burden of Dreams won
the Flaherty Documentary Award at the British
Academy Film Awards in 1983.
Wednesday, December 2, 6:30 pm
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
(Die Höhle der vergessenen Träume) (3D)
USA/UK/France/Germany, 2010, 90 min., Director: Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog gained exclusive access to film
inside the Chauvet Pont d’Arc caves of Southern
France, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, capturing some of the oldest known paintings and
drawings of humankind in their astonishing
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
Monday, December 7, 6:30 pm
Pina (3D)
Germany, 2011, 103 min., Director: Wim Wenders
Pina is a dance film with the ensemble of the
Tanztheater Wuppertal about the unique art of
the late choreographer Pina Bausch. It takes
the audience on a sensual, visually stunning
journey of discovery into a new dimension:
straight onto the stage of the ensemble. It also
accompanies the dancers out of the theater
and into the city and region of Wuppertal a place that for 35 years was home to Pina
Bausch and central to her creative process.
Wim Wenders (b. 1945) is a German director
and photographer. In 2015 he won the Honorary Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film
Festival. Pina won a 2011 German Film Award;
the film was also nominated for “Best Director” and for a 2012 Oscar.
* Excerpts of this text courtesy of Eddie Cockrell
Tickets see page 31.
Made possible with support from
Friends of the Goethe-Institut.
13
DIGITAL
AUDIO
Top: Katie Davis (left) and Flawn Williams on assignment in Big Bend National Park (courtesy Flawn Williams).
Bottom: Anna Jessen, Bzionkow House.
n AUDIO EVENTS
Wednesday, October 14, 7 – 8:30 pm
Hear Now Fall 2015
An Evening with Danish Radio
Producer Anna Elisabeth Jessen
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum
Hear Now, an informal group of local producers
and radiophiles, presents cutting-edge listening
experiences and discussions as well as a chance
to hear what’s going on in public radio across
the country and around the world.
RSVP at
www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
Tuesday, September 1, 7 - 8:30 pm
An Evening with Flawn Williams and
Katie Davis
A listening opportunity and deconstruction of
several short radio/audio pieces that Flawn
Williams and Katie Davis produced with correspondent Alex Chadwick for Birdnote.org in
the summer of 2014 in the Big Bend National
Park area of southwest Texas.
The evening will consist of listening to some
of the six pieces in this mini-series, listening
to excerpts from the many hours of unedited source tapes, and talking about recording
natural sounds and interviewing people outdoors and the often-conflicting needs of those
two activities.
14
Anna Elisabeth (Lisbeth) Jessen is a director of radio and TV features and documentary
films. She works for Danish Broadcasting and
also directs features in Germany.
She will present excerpts from the following
internationally award-winning radio features:
Her newest radio feature, Guten Tag auf
Polnisch, aired numerous times in Germany and
was selected as one of the German pieces
for the International Feature Conference,
held in Lublin, Poland in May 2015.
Doctor Tramsen’s Report, a documentary
about a skull exhumed from a mass grave
in Katyn forest in Smolensk, Poland in
1940 and later discovered at a forensic institute on Copenhagen.
The story behind the Danish dogma feature
film The Celebration (Festen).
Co-sponsored by the Washington, DC chapter
of the Kosciuszko Foundation.
Additional events forthcoming; visit
www.goethe.de/washington for details.
kulturvergnügen || fall
fall || 2015
2015
kulturvergnügen
FORGING
THE FUTURE
The Tiger at the entrance to Szakácsi. Photo © Márton Botond - Sziget Festival
n EXHIBITION OPENING
Thursday, September 10, 5:30 pm
University of the District of Columbia,
4200 Connecticut Ave. NW, Building 32, 4th Floor
Future Perfect Project
Photography Documentation
RSVP for the opening reception at
www.udc-causes.eventbrite.com
Stories for tomorrow – lived today, everywhere.
The international, multilingual internet platform
www.goethe.de/futureperfectproject tells the
stories of individuals, initiatives, organizations,
and businesses that have moved from ideas
towards action for a better, more sustainable
future. This exhibition features some of them
which are being published as Creative Commons
articles to facilitate an exchange of ideas and
to inform and inspire a broad diversity of experiments with a sustainable future.
n GAMES EVENING (SPIELEABEND)
Saturday, September 26, 7 - 10 pm
Goethe-Institut Washington
Catan: Oil Springs
A Practice Run for COP21
This December, the world’s leaders are going
to try to hash out a climate change agreement
in Paris (COP21).
Join us for a game of Catan: Oil Springs, the
climate scenario for everyone’s favorite German
board game (Settlers of Catan by Klaus Teuber),
and try your hand at negotiating the climatic
fate of your fellow settlers of Catan.
Learn the rules and play the scenario with
the designers, Erik Assadourian of the Worldwatch Institute and Ty Hansen.
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
The game has been translated into 8 languages
(German, French, Spanish, Polish, Dutch, Danish,
Catalan, and Korean). Rules will be available
in all of these languages in case you want
to make the night feel more like the Paris
Conference of the Parties.
Tickets $5. RSVP at
www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
n SYMPOSIUM
Thursday, October 29, 1 – 5 pm
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum and FotoGalerie
Think Nuclear-Free!
The Nuclear-Free Future Award
The 2015 winners of the international NuclearFree Future Award will talk about their efforts to
end the uranium fuel chain and offer peaceful,
sustainable alternatives to nuclear power and
nuclear weapons. Each winner is an individual
who has shown courage, determination and
inspiration in striving to create a safer, more
sustainable world.
Moderated by Gordon Edwards, president of
the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility and recipient of the 2006 Nuclear-Free
Future Award.
Followed by a reception.
RSVP at
www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com.
Organized by Beyond Nuclear,
Green Cross International and the
Heinrich Böll Foundation Washington.
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kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
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EUROPE
A Kings Journey © Joerg Metzner
© Aleš Šteger
n T heater
n READING AND DISCUSSION
October 30 – November 8, 2015
Friday, November 6, 12:30 - 1:30 pm
various venues
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum
Kids Euro Festival 2015
Aleš Šteger: Berlin
Europe comes to Washington this fall with an
arts festival starring the most talented European children’s entertainers in performances all
around the city. The festival is geared to kids
ages six through twelve, and features artists
in many performing genres. A project of the
Washington-based European Union embassies
and major local cultural institutions.
Date and Location TBD
A Kings Journey
A king, a lady, a deranged population, watering
cans, umbrellas, and an entirely unique story.
An adventurous journey around half the world
with more than 60 shadow figures.
By the German shadow theater group Theater
Handgemenge (Marie Feldt and Peter Müller)
60 minutes; for children 6 years and up.
Reservations and
more information at
kidseurofestival.org
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With his poetry, novels, and essays appearing
in The New Yorker and other international
magazines, Aleš Šteger (b. 1973 in Ptuj, Slovenia)
is the most translated Slovenian author of his
generation. Among the awards he has received
for his work are a 2007 Rožanc Award, the
highest prize for essays written in the Slovene
language, for his collection of essays entitled Berlin,
and the 2012 US Best Translation Book Award
for his book of poetry The Book of Things.
This reading (in German, English and Slovene)
and discussion will address the flâneur concept
in German literature and the role poetry plays
in people’s lives today and in Berlin, the new/
old European poetic capital.
Acclaimed in Europe and translated into multiple languages, Berlin (published in 2007) is a
lyrical account of the city as well as a book of
discoveries, allusions, and traces, an homage
to great literary figures who have lived there.
Organized in cooperation with the
Embassy of Slovenia.
RSVP at
www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
n WEBSITE AND DISCUSSION
Thursday, October 8, time TBD
New York University
Iconoclash
Opening of this event and publication series with
Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek.
RSVP to
www.goetheinstitutwashington.eventbrite.com
Image by Belgian political cartoonist Lectrr in response
to the attack on Charlie Hebdo.
The latest waves of terrorism, from attacks on
the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris to the damaging of antiquities in the Middle East, have highlighted both an ideological conflict and the central
role of imagery. Iconoclash comprises four topics
and perspectives from Europe and the United
States relevant to this clash of cultures.
www.eunic-iconoclash.com
Organized in cooperation with the Washington, DC chapter of the
European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), and in partnership with
New York University and the Delegation of the European Union to the United States.
Leisniger Kastenordnung: Luther’s Leisnig Ordinance of 1523,
establishing a ‘common chest’ or charitable endowment, is
considered the oldest Protestant social law.
© Gans
n SYMPOSIUM
Friday, November 6,
4 – 8:30 pm
Martin Luther, by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Saturday, November 7,
8:30 am – 1 pm
LUTHER
Church of the Reformation,
212 East Capitol Street NE
The Forgotten Luther: Advocate for the Poor
Prominent scholars of Reformation studies will address a largely untold dimension of the German
reformation: They will explore how Luther and other reformers worked to end economic exploi-tation and advocated for the common good. They will also discuss the significance of Martin Luther’s
ideas for social reforms today.
Cost: $60 (includes dinner); $75 at door; $15 students
Registration: www.eventbrite.com: “Forgotten Luther Symposium”
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
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Guten Tag, Ramón © Beanca Films
n F I L M and D I S C U S S I O N
Thursday, October 22, 6:30 – 9:30 pm
Goethe-Institut, GoetheForum and FotoGalerie
Guten Tag, Ramón (Buen Dia, Ramón)
Mexico/Germany, 2014, 119 min., Director: Jorge Ramírez Suárez
IMMIGRATION
Dr. Illegal courtesy DC Shorts Film Festival
n FILM
Monday, September 14, 5 pm
Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW
Dr. Illegal
Germany, 2015, 27 min., Director: Jan Galli and Martin Rohe
A political refugee from Iran, Dr. Omid Afarid,
tries to gain approval to practice medicine in
Germany. This thoughtful film brings humor
and excitement to its portrayal of the hardships faced by asylum seekers in Germany,
and the patience and determination needed
to overcome them.
Winner of the 2015 European Civis Media
Prize for Integration and Cultural Diversity,
Dr. Illegal is presented as part of Showcase
10 at DC Shorts, taking place September 10 –
20, 2015.
www.dcshorts.com
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Discussion follows with director Jorge
Ramírez Suárez and Victoria Rietig, Policy
Analyst, International Program, Migration
Policy Institute. Moderated by Gustavo
Morales Cirion, deputy director, Mexican
Cultural Institute.
A box office hit in Mexico and Europe, Guten
Tag, Ramón stars Ramón, a young man from
a small town in northern Mexico. After five
failed attempts to make it across the US border
to help his penniless family, when an unexpected
windfall provides the means to fly to Germany
to seek out his friend’s aunt, Ramón jumps at
the chance. But she’s not at the expected address, leaving Ramón to fend for himself until he meets Ruth, a lonely senior citizen with
whom he develops a rewarding and touching
relationship.
Reception follows hosted by the
Mexican Cultural Institute.
Tickets ($6) at www.IMFilmFest.eventbrite.com
Presented as part of the Greater Washington
Immigration Film Festival October 22 – 25, 2015.
www.immigrationfilmfest.org
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
© Goethe-Institut, Herlinde Koelbl
the week
rses at all levels begin
Intensive German cou
October.
5
of
ek
we
courses the
of 14 September; Fall
LEARN GERMANGET TO KNOW
GERMANY.
WWW.GOETHE.DE/WASHINGTON
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
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kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
FoGI
Enjoy German language and culture by becoming
a member of Friends of the Goethe-Institut (FoGI)
Friends of the Goethe-Institut
Friends of the Goethe-Institut (FoGI) enhances the language, teacher training and arts programming of the Goethe-Institut Washington. In 2014/2015, transatlantic relations were strengthened
by FoGI’s support of noteworthy projects such as:
The Transatlantic Outreach Program, which sends social studies educators to Germany and
produces material on modern-day Germany (www.goethe.de/top);
Transit: Creative Placemaking with Europe in Baltimore, a project which brought together artists
and creative communities in Baltimore with their counterparts in various European cities
(www.europeinbaltimore.org);
The 2014 Blue Note Records celebration marking the founding of the famous music label by
two German immigrants;
Forging the Future, a series leading up to the December 2015 Conference of the Parties on
Climate Change in Paris.
Support German language and culture today!
n Friends of the Goethe-Institut (FoGI) has joined the Com-
bined Fedeal Campaign (CFC), the world’s largest and most successful annual workplace payroll deduction giving program. For the first time ever, federal employees can support FoGI by designating #20107 on their CFC pledge card.
n Friends of the Goethe-Institut – see www.goethe.de/washington for membership information.
Member Highlight: Stephen Staudigl
A
s the child of German immigrants, I’ve always had an interest in
Germany and things German. The Goethe-Institut is a gem in Washington’s cultural landscape, one that I especially appreciate because
this amenity was not available in any other city I’ve lived in since
college.
One of the first things I did after moving to Washington was to get
involved with the Goethe-Institut, and within a couple years I joined
Friends of the Goethe-Institut (FoGI) to provide financial support for its
work promoting German culture in Washington. After several years, I upgraded to the Frankfurt
Circle to increase my impact.
My favorite memories are game-watching parties to cheer on die Nationalmannschaft during
their magical run at the 2006 World Cup held in Germany, and film screenings for Berlin Babylon and the American premiere of the German TV series Blochin: The Living and the Dead.
Joining FoGI should be a “no-brainer” for anyone who regularly attends programs. Membership
benefits include discounts on events and invites to the always-fun Members holiday party.
Special Thanks: Marianne Ginsburg
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
| Gary Hodge | Heinz Schulte | Thomas Zielke
23
2150 N Culpeper Street
(corner of 4900 Lee Highway)
Arlington, VA 22207
Phone: 703 527-8394
www.heidelbergbakery.com
Hours:
Tues. - Fri.: 6:30am - 6:30pm
Saturday: 8am - 5 pm
Sunday: 8am - 1pm
Mondays closed
www.heidelbergbakery.com
Vertrauensarzt der Deutschen Botschaft
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kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
Celebrating
50 Years of
Excellence!
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
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kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
Cord Schlobohm, D.M.D.
4830 Cordell Ave., Bethesda MD
Wir sprechen deutsch
Dramatische Ergebnisse
in nur einem Besuch …
Mit CEREC 3D Equipment
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Natürlich aussehende Implantate und Brücken
Zahnfarbene Füllungen - ohne Quecksilber
Invisalign (unsichtbare Zahnregulierung)
Notfallbehandlung und Wurzelkanäle
Zahnfleischbehandlungen
Erwachsene und Kinder aller Altersgruppen
Vertrauensarzt der Deutschen Botschaft
www.bestbethesdasmile.com
301-656-8788
The Wagner Society of Washington, DC
is a nonprofit organization devoted to the
study and enjoyment of Wagner’s art and,
through our American Wagner Project
(AWP), the development of vocal talent.
Rienzi: A Discussion
PIOTR GAJEWSKI & JOHN EDWARDS NILES
ARTS CLUB OF WASHINGTON
SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 AT 7:30 PM
R ienzi in C oncert
NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC
STRATHMORE MUSIC HALL
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2015 AT 8:00 PM
J effrey S wann in C oncert
KATZEN ARTS CENTER
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
OCTOBER 9, 2016 AT 7:30 PM
www.wagner-dc.org
Phone 703-370-1923 | Fax 703-370-1924
[email protected]
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
27
Addresses
The German Historical Institute
1607 New Hampshire Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20009
Phone: 202-387-3355
Fax: 202-483-3430
E-mail: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
Web site: www.theunitedchurch.org
German Speaking Catholic
Mission Washington, DC
Rectory: 6330 Linway Terrace,
McLean, VA 22101
Masses: Chapel of Gate of Heaven
Cemetery, 13801 Georgia Avenue,
Silver Spring, MD 20906.
Phone: 703-356-4473
E-mail:[email protected]
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: [email protected]
Web site: www.zionbaltimore.org
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
Discover the unique atmosphere of Germany’s towns and cities.
Countless church spires towering over medieval lanes. Modern art
installations side by side with buildings steeped in history. Where else but in
the wonderful towns and cities of Germany! Discover just how spoiled
for choices you are at: www.germany.travel/cities
kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
© imago
_oldworldcharm
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kulturvergnügen | fall | 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.
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.
There are six institutes in the United States. Founded in 1990, Goethe-Institut Washington promotes
German culture and language.
Metro:
Gallery Place/Chinatown (exit at 7th and H Streets)
Red, Yellow, and Green Lines
The Goethe-Institut Washington is
wheelchair accessible.
Opening Hours:
Monday-Thursday 9 am – 5 pm; Friday 9 am – 3 pm
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.goethe.de/washington
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: [email protected]
Web site: www.Germany.info
German-American relations:
Follow us on facebook and twitter:
© Wood Powell © Toolbox DC
• German Cultural Events, Washington DC
• The Week in Germany (in English)
www.facebook.com/GermanEmbassyWashington
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 | fall | 2015
The German Embassy is wheelchair accessible
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kulturvergnügen | fall | 2015
design: [email protected]
GERMAN CULTURAL EVENTS FALL | 2015
# 20107
Help us keep our database up-to-date and save on mailing costs.
Email changes to us at [email protected] 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