Film Restored – The Film Heritage Festival

Press release, 21 Sep 21

Migration, exile, working “elsewhere” – cross-border movement is as much a part of historical and contemporary reality as it is of film history. The 18 film programs of selected restored works in the sixth Film Restored festival entitled ‘Cinematic Migrations’ reflect how firmly flight, migration, and expatriation have inscribed themselves in movie history.

It includes modern epics about living in foreign lands, such as Werner Schroeter’s masterpiece ‘Palermo or Wolfsburg’ (FRG, CH, 1980); a premiere of its digital restoration opens the festival. In ‘The Seasonal Worker’ (CH, 1971), director Alvaro Bizzarri also explores the flight from poverty in southern Italy, leaning on the traditions of neo-realism to make a film that contributed to the politicization of seasonal migrants. Finally, in ‘A Woman’s Greatest Value is Her Silence’ (CH, FRG, 1980), director Gertrud Pinkus lets a woman’s voice on the subject be heard for the first time.

Political exile has also left its mark on international cinema history. The 1917 Russian Revolution triggered a mass exodus of film professionals, with exiled White Russian filmmakers founding the legendary Albatros film studios in Paris. It was there that René Clair shot his delightful comedy ‘The Italian Straw Hat’ (FR, 1928). Not too much later, persecuted filmmakers began fleeing the Nazis, for instance Hans Behrendt, who made his ‘Doña Francisquita’ (ES, 1934), a sound operetta with a Weimar touch, in Spain. At the other end of the scale is ‘The Lost One’ (FRG, 1951). Directed by Peter Lorre, it is a good example of a failure to thrive in post-war West Germany after re-immigration.

Foreign experiences are often expressed on film as non-linear narratives. Examples of this in the Film Restored program include movies such as ‘Crossing Over’ (BE, TN, 1982, Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud), ‘The Foreigner’ (SE, FI, 1983, Muammar Özer), and ‘Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask’ (UK, 1996, Isaac Julien), which illuminate the political-philosophical aspects of otherness.

The festival also pays homage to films made consciously for migrant communities. Festival guest of honor Jan-Christopher Horak, for instance, highlights the USA’s Spanish-language film scene, which produced box office hits such as ‘The Day You Love Me’ (USA, 1935), starring Tango meister Carlos Gardel.

The diverse program of film screenings is complemented by lectures and panel discussions.

Most of these events will be presented in English. The films will all be shown in their original languages, most of them with English subtitles.

 

 

Prior registration is necessary to attend in person.

Accreditation
can be requested from September 9 through October 20, 2021, by sending an e-mail to: registration_fr [at] deutsche-kinemathek.de (registration_fr[at]deutsche-kinemathek[dot]de).

A selection of the films, talks, and introductions, as well as bonus material will also be available during the festival at www.film-restored.de.

 

Due to the uncertainties of the covid situation, the Association of German Cinematheques Prize award ceremony will take place virtually once again this year. Details of that event will be announced in a press release at the end of October.

 

The hygiene and pandemic abatement concept for the festival will be adapted to the circumstances and regulations prevailing at festival time.

 

The Film Heritage Festival Film Restored is mounted under the aegis of the Deutsche Kinemathek for the German KInematheksverbund (Association of Cinematheques).

The Deutsche Kinemathek receives funding from the German Commissioner for Culture and the Media with the Neustart Kultur program, a stimulus package for culture and media.

 

Program:
https://www.deutsche-kinemathek.de/en/visit/festivals-symposiums/film-restored-06

 

Press photos:
https://www.deutsche-kinemathek.de/en/kinemathek/press

 

Photo: © Cinematek