Cultural diplomacy is the soft power in the political games between countries. Few people in the cultural sector have experienced the great upheavals of the past decades as directly as Klaus Dieter Lehmann, the shaper, manager and president of the Goethe-Institut.

After the fall of the Wall, Klaus Dieter Lehmann, the director of the German Library in Frankfurt/M., landed his first triumph: he united the library in Frankfurt with the Germany Library in Leipzig to create the German National Library. An exemplary case of German-German cultural policy. And as of 1999, as the driving force behind Berlin's Museum Island, he helped shape the face of the "New Berlin". Pushing ahead with a master plan for the renovation of the Museum Island, he promptly also developed the concept of the Humboldt Forum, in the reconstructed Berlin Palace, as a centre for world cultures. Lehmann's appointment as the head of the Goethe-Institute in 2008 was hardly surprising, and in the decade that followed he steered the institute out of a budget crisis and repositioned it for a globalised world. His term as president of the Goethe-Institut ended in November 2020, closing out the career of a man who has frequently been described as a "pragmatic visionary". A talented cultural diplomat of conviction, he always maintained his independence and a diplomatic tone, even when in relentless pursuit of a goal. This documentary accompanies Lehmann during the last stages of a 50-year career – on business trips to Africa and Asia, behind the scenes of the cultural institute in Munich, to Frankfurt/Main, where the roots of his career lie, and to his adopted home, the German capital of Berlin. It is the story of a year that did not go as planned, and not just for Lehmann. And in this cinematic farewell, we see a life characterised by an amazing gift for being in the right place at the right time. The documentary includes interviews with friends and co-workers, and also looks beyond the biographical to provide insight into the German cultural policies of the recent decades.

Source: Deutsche Welle

Production Year

2020

color

color

Aspect Ratio

16:9

Duration

Medium-Length Film (31 to 60 Min.)

Type

Documentary

Genre

Biography / Portrait

Topic

Social Engagement, Europe

Available Media

DVD

Original Version

German (de)

DVD

Subtitles

German (full), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (short), Russian (ru), Arabic (ar)