Worldwide Screening & Post-Film Discussion | January 27 & January 28, 2020

Worldwide Screening & Post-Film Discussion: Shoah (1985), dir. Claude Lanzmann

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day – January 27, 2020, also the 75-year anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp – the Goethe-Institut Washington and the Edlavitch Jewish Community Center of Washington, DC present a screening of Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah (1985, documentary film). This is a rare opportunity to see the 9.5-hour film in its entirety on a big screen. On January 28, at 6:30pm, the Goethe-Institut Washington will host a post-film discussion. Discussants will be announced shortly.

The Goethe-Instituts of North America in turn call friends and partners to participate in this worldwide screening event. These screenings can be in small private circles or in large venues, through television channels, or anywhere else possible. Shoah is subtitled in English, Spanish, French, and German, and can be purchased in many places where DVDs and Blu-Rays are sold. Please visit the event page linked below for more information.

Film Festival | Until Sunday, December 22, 2019

AFI European Union Film Showcase: Germany

This December, the Goethe-Institut Washington has partnered with the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in presenting four outstanding new German films at 2019’s AFI European Union Film Showcase. This is a wonderful opportunity to catch critically-acclaimed contemporary German movies on the big screen that may not appear elsewhere in US cinemas for a while, if at all.

Tickets for screenings of Angela Schanelec's I Was at Home, But... (Ich war zuhause, aber...) - winner of the Berlinale 2019 Silver Bear for Best Director - and Jan-Ole Gerster's Lara - winner of the Filmfest München 2019 Förderpreis Neues Deutsches Kino - are still available for purchase through AFI. All films are subtitled in English.

Exhibition Opening | January 15 - 16, 2020

Fritz Ascher: Expressionist

Opening at the University of Richmond Museums in January 2020, Fritz Ascher: Expressionist presents paintings and works on paper by a Jewish artist who belonged to Germany’s Lost Generation – those whose careers were interrupted or destroyed by the Nazi terror regime.

Ascher’s early work is steeped in old myths, spirituality, and reflections on the human condition. From 1933, he was forbidden to produce, exhibit, or sell his art. He was deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in November 1938, and from December he was incarcerated in Potsdam prison for five months. In 1942 Ascher went into hiding in Berlin, writing poetry. He returned to painting after the war, expressing his inner turmoil in colorful, mystical landscapes devoid of human figures.

Opening events take place at the University of Richmond on January 15 and January 16, 2020.

Goethe Book Club | Tuesday, February 4, 2020, 6:30pm

Goethe Book Club: Alex Beer's The Second Rider (2017/2018)

On February 4, 2020, the Goethe Book Club will kick off its spring semester with Alex Beer's compelling historical crime novel The Second Rider. 

Vienna, right after the First World War: A man is strangled under mysterious circumstances. It’s up to Detective August Emmerich and his young partner, Ferdinand Winter, to undercover why this man was so cruelly murdered. Altered by the war, Vienna is a mixture of rich and poor, blended families, and those trying to rebuild or move away from the city forever. Explore the Viennese underground and undercover a killer in this suspenseful thriller.

January 2020 German Courses

Registration is now in progress for 5-week intensive courses, 10-week standard courses, as well as 8 and 16-week online courses starting in January 2020. Enter promo-code Januar2020 at checkout to save 10% on all face-to-face courses beginning in January (case-sensitive; code valid through 01/03/2020; offers may not be combined). All face-to-face courses take place at our new location at 1377 R Street NW, Suite 300!

"Social Balance is the Key"

In all German cities, it takes money to live anywhere close to downtown, quite a lot of money in fact. Those who cannot afford the rising rents in cities are pushed out to the periphery. We asked an expert how urban planning could address this widening gap between rich and poor.