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).
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Interested in German cinema? Visit
goethe.de/wunderbarfilms to learn how to stream 48 German films for free on Kanopy.
FILM PROGRAM
TATORT: THE RED SHADOW / Tatort: Der rote Schatten
2017, Germany, 90 min
May 24, 6:45pm
June 1, 7:00pm
THE INVINCIBLES / Die Sieger
1994/2019, Germany, 150 min
May 24, 9:00pm
June 2, 8:30pm
BITTER INNOCENCE / Bittere Unschuld
1999, Germany, 88 min
May 25, 4:15pm
May 30, 7:00pm
THE CAT / Die Katze
1988, Germany, 118 min
May 25, 6:30pm
TWILIGHT ETERNAL / Am Abend aller Tage
2016, Germany, 89 min
May 25, 9:15pm
May 29, 7:00pm
CITY FOR RANSOM / Eine Stadt wird erpresst
2006, Germany, 90 min
May 26, 4:00pm
May 31, 9:00pm
THE VOW / Das Gelübde
2007, Germany, 92 min
May 26, 6:30pm
May 29, 9:00pm
COLD SPRING / Kalter Frühling
2004, Germany, 89 min
May 26, 9:00pm
May 31, 7:00pm
HOTTE IN PARADISE / Hotte im Paradies
2002, Germany, 118 min
May 27, 6:30pm
May 30, 9:00pm
THE INVISIBLE GIRL / Das unsichtbare Mädchen
2011, Germany, 105 min
May 27, 9:15pm
June 1, 4:30pm
POLIZEIRUF 110: SMOKE ON THE WATER
2014, Germany, 103 min
May 28, 6:45pm
June 1, 9:00pm
MANHUNT: ESCAPE TO THE CARPATHIANS / Zielfahnder – Flucht in die Karpaten
2016, Germany, 113 min
May 28, 9:00pm
June 2, 6:00pm
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