GOETHE FILMS – Aftermath: Echoes of War

Wings of Desire © Wim Wenders Foundation

GOETHE FILMS is presented by the Goethe-Institut at TIFF Lightbox

October 8 + 10 + 15, 2024
For tickets, visit TIFF Ticketmaster.
For more information, visit goethe.de/toronto/events.

On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, GOETHE FILMS delves into the profound and lasting impact wars have on societies and the multi-generational trauma they leave in their wake. The New German Cinema movement (1960s to 80s) addressed post-war struggles as well as the crippling disruption fascism had dealt German film culture after the artistic heydays of Weimar cinema. The bold artistic movement was created by the children of that war, grappling with the shattered world they were left with and the complexities of a rapidly changing new society.

Seductive and sharp storytellers Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Alexander Kluge, and Wim Wenders were the leading young representatives of New German Cinema, transcending time and borders with their films which continue to shed light on the universal human experience in the aftermath of war. Three now-classic films of that generation serve as poignant reminders of the enduring personal and societal repercussions of conflict, echoing themes of resilience, identity, belonging, and the search for meaning and agency in a world marked by unimaginable upheaval.

Alexander Kluge has contributed two of his shorts – “Bomb as Plow” and “Song of Medea” – to the series.

October 8, 2024, 6:30 pm

The Marriage of Maria Braun (Germany 1978, 2h)
by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Ali: Fear Eats the Soul), with Hanna Schygulla (Poor Things), and more

Fassbinder (1945-82) adopts the perspective of a woman presumably widowed in WWII, only later, while climbing the post-war economic ladder, to become tragically entangled with an American soldier and the ghost of her first husband.

Preceded by Alexander Kluge’s short film “Bomb as Plow.”

October 10, 2024, 6:30 pm

Yesterday Girl (Germany 1966, 1h 28m)
by Alexander Kluge (Orphea), with Alexandra Kluge, and more

Kluge, born 1932, too has a female protagonist: (Jewish) East German telephone girl Anita G. flees to West Germany in the 60s with hopes of a better, freer life, but fails professionally and personally, again and again.

Preceded by Kluge’s short “Song of Medea.”

October 15, 2024, 6:30 pm

Wings of Desire (Germany 1987, 2h 08 m)
by Wim Wenders (Perfect Days), with Bruno Ganz (Downfall), Solveig Dommartin (Until the End of the World), Otto Sander (Das Boot), and more

In Wenders’ (born 1945) melancholic romance, the sky over still war-scarred and divided 1980s Berlin – including the wasteland that still was Potsdamer Platz – is full of gentle, trench-coated angels who listen to the tortured thoughts of mortals and try to comfort them.

In 2024, GOETHE FILMS is celebrating 70 years of German Films, Germany’s film marketing agency and a partner of the Goethe-Institut worldwide, with this program curated out of a selection of the best and most successful German films over the past seven decades by German film expert Alfred Holighaus.

Language: with English subtitles; viewer discretion is advised.

Price: Tickets $10 at TIFF online or day-of at in-person TIFF box office or by phone 1-888-258-8433

The in-cinema program Aftermath: Echoes of War is expanded by an online collection of German films from the last two decades, including more recent post-migrant war experiences like Nasim and Republic of Silence. Presented for free in the USA and Canada on our streaming platform Toronto.Goethe-on-Demand.de from October 1 – November 3, 2024.

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