As a part of a year-long project "Wunderbar: A Celebration of German Film," the Goethe-Institut Washington has selected twelve iconic films that trace the richness of German film history. Together with Landmark's West End Cinema, we present German Cinema 101, a series that guides viewers through this history, paired with expert-led discussions.
Not able to make it to the cinema? No worries! You can also stream this film and 48 films in total at: kanopy.com/goethe.
ALICE IN THE CITIES (ALICE IN DEN STÄDTEN)
An introduction to the film will be provided by Sky Sitney, co-director of film festival Double Exposure and Assistant Professor in the Film and Media Studies program at Georgetown University. A discussion will follow the screening.
Federal Republic of Germany, 1974, 110 min., Director: Wim Wenders, Screenplay: Wim Wenders and Veith von Fürstenberg
The German journalist Phillip Winter wants to write a story about America, but is unable to accomplish anything but a series of Polaroids before disappointedly beginning his journey back home. At the same time, he reluctantly agrees to take little Alice with him, because her mother—whom he meets in New York on the day before his departure—has urgent business to take care of there.
In Amsterdam, the mother then fails to appear as they had agreed, and so Winter and Alice set out to try to find Alice’s grandmother in the Ruhr region. During their search together, their initial mutual dislike gradually transforms into heart-felt affection.
Although
Alice in den Städten is Wim Wenders’ fourth film, Wenders himself often refers to it as “his first,” because it is embodies many of the qualities for which his work is now known: transience, long journeys of self-discovery and redemption, and the challenged construct of family.
Alice in den Städten is Wenders’ first foray into the road movie genre, and the first installment in what would later become a trilogy of road movies. It was also his first film to be short partly in the US and the first to feature his alter ego, Phillip Winter. In 1974 it won the German Critics Prize.
Wim Wenders (b. 1945) came to international prominence as one of the pioneers of the New German Cinema during the 1970’s and is considered to be one of the most important figures in contemporary German film. In addition to his many prize-winning feature films, his work as a scriptwriter, director, producer, photographer and author also encompasses an abundance of innovative documentary films, international photo exhibitions and numerous monographs, film books and prose collections. He lives and works in Berlin, together with his wife, Donata Wenders.
Buy Tickets
Are you currently enrolled in a German course at the Goethe-Institut Washington? If so, pick up your free ticket from the front desk today!
This event is part of the
German Cinema 101 film series. German Cinema 101 is part of the project
Wunderbar: A Celebration of German Film. 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 inviting German filmmakers to speak.
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