Film & Discussion | Saturday, September 14, 12:30 pm

“Serious Games”: Mario Pfeifer's Again / Noch Einmal (2018)

This Saturday, our Serious Games series in collaboration with the National Gallery of Art continues with Mario Pfeifer's Again / Noch Einmal (2018), with the filmmaker present for a follow-up panel discussion. Originally screened in the 2018 Berlin Biennale as a two-channel installation video, Again / Noch Einmal probes the actions of a group of men who forcibly restrain an Iraqi refugee following a confrontation in a German grocery store. Divided between those who saw the event as an act of civil courage and others who viewed it as racially motivated vigilantism, extralegal jurors - facilitated by two familiar German crime TV actors, Dennenesch Zoudé and Mark Waschke - grapple with the reenacted scenario.

Film & Discussion | Monday, September 16, 6:30 pm

Art & Power: Lutz Dammbeck – The Experimental Short Films & Documentaries of Lutz Dammbeck

Starting in the 1970s, East German filmmaker Lutz Dammbeck worked on a number of experimental Super-8, 35mm, and video projects, including Metamorphoses I (Metamorphosen I) - one of the first experimental films to be shown publicly in the GDR - and Homage to La Sarraz (Hommage à La Sarraz), both of which make use of non-camera animation. These two films were the beginning of Dammbeck’s long-term art project, the Hercules Concept (Herakles-Konzept), in which the artist seesthe filmmaking process as a total artwork (Gesamtkunstwerk) - including research materials, media collages, photographs, texts, painting, dance, film, and music. Dammbeck has continued to work on various sequences for and variations on his Hercules project ever since. On Monday at the Goethe-Institut, Dammbeck will be present for a Q&A and discussion with Dr. Peter Rollberg after the program. A reception will accompany the screening.

Lecture & Exhibit | Wednesday, September 18, 2019, 6:30 pm

"The Power of Emotions" Lecture and Exhibit with Dr. Ute Frevert

Our politics are increasingly driven by emotions, so it would seem. We are living in an age of permanent agitation. Facts are being called into question by perceived truths. Radicals of every description are attracting more and more attention with simple answers to complex questions. The political center often does not know how to deal with heated emotions. It is characterized by the political culture of the old Federal Republic, where the need for sobriety prevailed. The Power of Emotions: Germany 19 | 19 takes present-day manifestations of 20 emotions as a starting point, and shows how these have developed during the 20th century: conjunctures, change, and continuities. In the 2019 year of remembrance, the exhibition and talk will address continuities and gaps in the emotions that have shaped the last 100 years, the intensity of which is now presenting a challenge for politics and society. The lecture will be followed by a discussion with Dr. Frevert.

Film | Friday, September 20 - Thursday, September 26

Washington Jewish Film Festival: The Tobacconist (2018), dir. Nikolaus Leytner

The Edlavitch Jewish Community Center of Washington, DC, together with the Goethe-Institut Washington, presents several encore screenings of The Tobacconist, Nikolaus Leytner's 2018 adaptation of Robert Seethaler's 2012 novel of the same name. A tender tale of a young man's friendship with Sigmund Freud during the Nazi occupation of Vienna, The Tobacconist was the annual JxJ Festival's sold-out closing night film in May 2019.

Five-Week Intensive Courses, 10-Week Standard Courses and More

Registration is still ongoing for fall courses at all levels for adults and teenagers beginning this week with additional five-week intensive courses beginning in October coming soon!
 

German for Teens

Online registration is still ongoing for our A1.1 Blended Learning (75%/25%) German course for teens beginning this weekend. Classes meet Saturday mornings from 9:30-am-12:00pm with 45-minutes of online work per week. All books included in course fee. Ask us about scholarship opportunities.

The Year of German-American Friendship

Two Field Reports on How it Feels to Live with and in Bauhaus Architecture

The McCormick House in Elmhurst, Illinois is a single-family home that was designed in 1952 by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the last director of the Bauhaus. This is one of only three residences designed and built by Mies in the US. John McKinnon, the executive director of the Elmhurst Art Museum and artist Claudia Weber give first-hand impressions of living with and in a house designed by a master of the Bauhaus.