GOETHE FILMS: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Presented by the Goethe-Institut, TIFF Cinematheque & Cinespace Studios x Studio Babelsberg

Hollywood, made in Germany: Discover how legendary Studio Babelsberg has been bringing Wes Anderson's meticulous vision to life. Through three of his most iconic films, the series reveals why the American cult director —with his fifth Babelsberg collaboration The Phoenician Scheme in cinemas— keeps returning to this centre of excellence just outside of Berlin to harness the highest production value to build his universe. This is also the success story of Cinespace Studios, just voted best global Studio of the Year, acquiring one of Europe's largest and oldest film production houses in 2022. “Wes Anderson, Made in Babelsberg” celebrates the master director as well as Studio Babelsberg’s unique art department with some of the world’s best trained craftspeople, creatives and innovators, now contributing to Cinespace’s international reputation.
 
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Isle of Dogs (2018), and The French Dispatch (2021) showcase the marriage of Anderson's signature worlds with Babelsberg's century-old craftsmanship. Industry experts and Anderson collaborators illuminate the beloved auteur’s approach in a panel conversation and through recorded introductions. A German book club contextualizes Wes Anderson’s fascination with Stefan Zweig, the mid-century Austrian writer who influences his narrative structure and aesthetic sensibility, alongside a Wes Anderson and German film history reading room at the Goethe-Institut.

This special edition of GOETHE FILMS, the Goethe-Institut Toronto’s signature film program at the TIFF Lightbox, is a collaboration with Cinespace Studios x Studio Babelsberg and part of TIFF Cinematheque's winter program.

Oct 2, 2025, 6pm 

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (Germany/USA 2014, 100min)

by Wes Anderson, starring Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Jude Law, Saoirse Ronan, Léa Seydoux, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, and others.

Introduced by Magali Simard, VP, Government & Industry Relations - INTL, Cinespace Toronto

Preceded by a hybrid panel discussion “Crafting Wes Anderson’s World” with Eike Wolf, Director Studio Operations Studio Babelsberg; Berlin-based miniature model maker & Anderson collaborator Simon Weisse; moderated by Jutta Brendemühl, Goethe-Institut Toronto.

A writer encounters the owner of an aging high-class hotel, who tells him of serving as a lobby boy in the hotel's glorious years under an exceptional concierge. A confectionary-coloured caper set in the fictional Eastern European republic of Zubrowka (shot in eastern Germany), the multi-layered narrative showcases Babelsberg's ability to construct Anderson's most ambitious world yet. Anderson drew visually from Europe-set mid-century Hollywood films and the Library of Congress’s photochrom print collection of alpine resorts. Studio Babelsberg’s craftspeople transformed an abandoned department store into the titular hotel, building everything from tiny furnicular railways to period elevators. The film, which won four Academy Awards, including for Production Design, proves that every frame benefited from Babelsberg's legendary attention to detail.

Premiered in competition at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival
Nominated for nine awards at the 87th Academy Awards including Best Picture

"Discerning travellers and Anderson fans will luxuriate in the glorious Mittel-European kitsch of one of the director's funniest and most exquisitely designed movies in years.” — Times

“A variety of post-production work is highlighted, from color correction of the typically fastidiously coordinated hotel to the mechanics of the dizzying climactic downhill mountain chase…” — Filmmaker Magazine

"Magnificent and magical, once you check-in, you'll never want to check-out.” — Behind the Lens


Speak German and wonder where Wes Anderson gets his inspiration? Join the Goethe-Institut’s free Stefan Zweig Buchclub on the mid-century Viennese writer who heavily influences the American director’s narrative structure and aesthetic sensibility and whose writing The Grand Budapest Hotel is based on. September 25, 6pm, register for free.


Oct 15, 2025, 6pm
Film: "ISLE OF DOGS"

Oct 21, 2025, 6.30pm
Film: "THE FRENCH DISPATCH"

Sep 25, 2025, 6pm
Book Club: "Die unsichtbare Sammlung"

Sep 22 - Oct 23, 2025, 10am
Reading Room: "Wes Anderson Salon"

Oct 2, 2025, 2025, 6pm
Panel: "Crafting Wes Anderson's World"