German Cinema in the Crossroads
As part of the
Year of German-American Friendship we’re bringing German film to Kansas City. With our
Pop Up Film Haus events we seek to bring together cinephiles, German speakers, and the uninitiated alike to discover German cinema through our curated selection of films. Each film will be shown with English subtitles and there will be an opportunity for discussion following each screening.
Goethe Pop Up Kansas City welcomes all to join us this week for a screening of Hans-Christian Schmid’s film
23.
23
Germany 1998, 99 min
Director: Hans-Christian Schmid
Cast: August Diehl, Fabian Busch, Dieter Landuris
Based on real events, the film follows Karl Koch, a computer hacker in the 1980s who loses his grip on reality and begins imagining that the world is controlled by the Illuminati after reading Robert Wilson’s
Illuminatus!. The hacking talents of Karl and his friend are noticed by the KGB, and the pressures of working for them begins to take a toll on Karl’s mental state. As his paranoia and drug use increases, Karl falls further into his delusion, attracting the attention of the police. Karl Koch dies on May 23rd, 1989, a presumed suicide.
Discussion Topics
Philipp Eirich, IT-specialist in Kansas City, will do an introduction of the movie and lead a discussion afterwards. He will focus on the beginnings of the internet and how conspiracy theories make it into the mainstream through social media.
This event is part of the
German Cinema in the Crossroads film series, an extension of the
Wunderbar: A Celebration of German Film project. From
Beloved Sisters to
A Coffee in Berlin and
Young Goethe in Love, from
The Blue Angel to
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari – we are celebrating German-American friendship with our partner Kanopy by bringing 48 German films to your screens. Goethe-Instituts and Goethe Pop Ups across the U.S. will take part in the celebration by showing films, organizing film festivals, and conducting discussions after screenings.
Back
