Filmreihe
The Films of Dominik Graf

24.05.-02.06.19
Anthology Film Archives

Dominik Graf is – internationally speaking – the least known master of modern German-language cinema, most probably because the vast majority of his massive and varied oeuvre was produced for television. Over the course of his career Graf has directed almost 80 works of various lengths and genres – feature films, TV movies, episodes for various series, as well as contributions to omnibus films – of which only ten were made for theatrical release. Among the theatrical films, only THE CAT (1987) was a major success with critics and audiences alike, while his made-for-TV works consistently win him awards and attract extraordinary ratings.

Graf’s contributions to long-running German TV series like Tatort (2017’s THE RED SHADOW) and Polizeiruf 110 (2014’s SMOKE ON THE WATER), as well as television films like COLD SPRING (2004), THE VOW (2007), or TWILIGHT ETERNAL (2016) not only redefined their genres but invariably broke new ground in terms of aesthetics as well as content. Of equal importance is Graf’s role as arguably the most alert and provocative chronicler of West German (FRG) history: THE INVINCIBLES (1994) was already, in its original version, one of the most bitter essays on the FRG’s existential malaise, but in its brand-new Extended Version (2019) it has become an all-out condemnation of a nation at war with itself; while CITY FOR RANSOM (2006) represents a blistering exposé of what the FRG did to and with the one-time-GDR and its citizens.

Graf’s works are unlike anything else in the cinematic landscape: they’re films that simultaneously dare to be genre fodder, disturbing probes into the darker recesses of the human soul, devastating denunciations of German life and politics, and journeys to the outer bounds of storytelling, as well as experiments with the materials of cinema/television itself. Anthology is overjoyed to present the first extensive retrospective devoted to Graf’s body of work to take place in the United States.

The Films of Dominik Graf is guest-curated by Olaf Möller, in consultation with Dominik Graf. This retrospective is co-presented by the Goethe-Institut New York. It is taking place in partnership with the Quad Cinema, which will present a related series devoted to German genre cinema of the 1970s & 80s, inspired by (and including) Graf’s two recent documentaries on the topic, DOOMED LOVE: A JOURNEY THROUGH GERMAN GENRE FILM (2016) and its sequel OPEN WOUNDS (2017).

#wunderbarfilms
Interested in German cinema? Visit goethe.de/wunderbarfilms to learn how to stream 48 German films for free on Kanopy.

FILMPROGRAMM

TATORT: THE RED SHADOW / Tatort: Der rote Schatten
Deutschland 2017, 90 Min
24. Mai, 18.45 Uhr
1. Juni, 19.00 Uhr

THE INVINCIBLES / Die Sieger
Deutschland 1994/2019, 150 Min
24. Mai, 21.00 Uhr
2. June, 20.30 Uhr

BITTER INNOCENCE / Bittere Unschuld
Deutschland 1999, 88 Min
25. Mai, 16.15 Uhr
30. Mai, 19.00 Uhr

THE CAT / Die Katze
Deutschland 1988, 118 Min
25. Mai, 18.30 Uhr

TWILIGHT ETERNAL / Am Abend aller Tage
Deutschland 2016, 89 Min
25. Mai, 21.15 Uhr
29. Mai, 19.00 Uhr

CITY FOR RANSOM / Eine Stadt wird erpresst
Deutschland 2006, 90 Min
26. Mai, 16.00 Uhr
31. Mai, 21.00 Uhr

THE VOW / Das Gelübde
Deutschland 2007, 92 Min
26. Mai, 18.30 Uhr
29. Mai, 21.00 Uhr

COLD SPRING / Kalter Frühling
Deutschland 2004, 89 Min
26. Mai, 21.00 Uhr
31. Mai, 19.00 Uhr

HOTTE IN PARADISE / Hotte im Paradies
Deutschland 2002, 118 Min
27. Mai, 18.30 Uhr
30. Mai, 21.00 Uhr

THE INVISIBLE GIRL / Das unsichtbare Mädchen
Deutschland 2011, 105 Min
27. Mai, 21.15 Uhr
1. Juni, 16.30 Uhr

POLIZEIRUF 110: SMOKE ON THE WATER
Deutschland 2014, 103 Min
28. Mai, 18.45 Uhr
1. Juni, 21.00 Uhr

MANHUNT: ESCAPE TO THE CARPATHIANS / Zielfahnder – Flucht in die Karpaten
Deutschland 2016, 113 Min
28. Mai, 21.00 Uhr
2. Juni, 18.00 Uhr