Dir. Peter Kahane with Kurt Naumann, Rita Feldmeier
In German with English subtitles, NR. 102 mins.

The architect Daniel Brenner is in his late thirties when he receives his first challenging and lucrative commission: to design a cultural center for a satellite town in East-Berlin. Together with old friends, he develops a concept which they hope will be more appealing to the public than the conventional and dull constructions common to the German Democratic Republic. However, their ambitious plans are once and again foiled by their conservative supervisors.

As frustration grows, Daniel who has just taken on the role of the rebel, finds himself increasingly part of the very system he wanted to fundamentally change and has trouble keeping his career in balance with his family life: his wife Wanda wants to leave for West-Germany. “Kahane born in 1949, belongs to the “lost generation” of GDR filmmakers who only began to make creative headway in the final stages of DEFA’s existence, if at all”. An extremely obvious simile: both filmmaking and architecture exist at the intersection where artistic aspirations and practical value meet. By depicting Brenner as a failure, Kahane also evokes his own difficulties in the film industry of the GDR. (Imdb)

Showings:

Thursday - MSU Curris Center Barkley Room
Saturday - MSU Curris Center Theater

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