Film Restored – The Film Heritage Festival

Migration, exile, working elsewhere – cross-border movement is as much a part of historical and contemporary reality as it is of film history. “Cinematic Migrations”, the sixth edition of the Film Restored Festival is dedicated to this subject and presents selected restored films that reflect how firmly migration and expatriation have inscribed themselves in movie history.

These films include modern epics about life in a foreign country, such as Werner Schroeter’s cinematic masterpiece ‘Palermo oder Wolfsburg’ (FRG, CH 1980), which celebrates its premiere as a digital restoration at the opening of the film festival. The flight from poverty in southern Italy has been a recurring theme and has established its own genre within film history. Films, such as ‘The Seasonal Worker’ (CH, 1971, directed by Alvaro Bizzarri), fall back on the tradition of neo-Realism and have thus politicized the relationship between migrant workers and society at the time. In ‘A Woman’s Greatest Value is Her Silence’ (CH, FRG, 1980), a woman’s voice on the subject is heard for the first time.

 

Even films affected by exile brought about by the Nazi regime produced characteristic works in various countries, for instance, the Spanish sound film operetta ‘Doña Francisquita’ (ES, 1934, directed by Hans Behrendt). ‘The Lost One’ (FRG, 1951), directed by Peter Lorre, is a good example of a failure to thrive in post-war West Germany after re-immigration.

The festival lineup features 18 film programs from many countries. Lectures and workshop reports elucidate transnational archival work and present recent digital restorations.

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 covid restrictions and the limited number of visitors, the live festival will be complemented by “Film Restored Online”, beginning on November 3 for two weeks.

Accredited festival participants will be asked to set up an account, which will automatically grant access to the online programme.

Registration for the online programme is open to non-accredited persons (subject to availability).

Participation in the “Film Restored festival” (screenings and live and online events) is free of charge with prior accreditation.

There are only a limited number of accreditation badges. Approved accreditation applications will be notified by October 29.

Accredited guests can pick up tickets for each day’s screenings and events at the Kino Arsenal box office or the accredited guest counter (subject to availability). A limited number of last-minute tickets may be available at the event venue.

For non-accredited visitors, tickets for the screenings in the Arsenal Kino cinema are available for purchase and can be reserved online, by phone (030 / 269 55 100), or at the box office. For a membership fee of € 12, the Arsenal offers a package of six screening tickets for € 24. Membership can be purchased at the box office.

Detailed information on current covid restrictions can be found at our venue’s website.