The new program of the summer semester!
Every beginning holds a promise: the magic of the unknown, the energy of that first time, and the quiet sense that something greater might emerge here. In our summer programme, we focus on precisely this moment – the debut, the new beginning, that first courageous step into the spotlight.
On 4 April 2016, we hosted our first analogue screening in the Blue Salon: City Lights on 35mm. We had no idea what that evening would lead to. The journey there smelled of orange cleaner, patience and improvisation: the over fifty-year-old Bauer B-14 projector was polished inch by inch, rewired and brought back to life without a manual. When it finally worked, our joy was overwhelming.
To mark our tenth analog anniversary, we are now capturing this magic inherent in our beginnings within our programme. The selection was not easy; all the more reason for us to consciously showcase perspectives beyond male-dominated US cinema, thereby celebrating the power and diversity of cinematic new beginnings.
For even ten years on, every 35mm screening remains a special occasion – one that we wish to rediscover by looking back to our beginnings and celebrate together.
With “Every Beginning is Beautiful!”, we turn our attention to the directorial debut. More than just a first film, the debut is a new beginning in which a new voice makes itself heard for the first time and the filmmaker’s own view of the world takes shape on the screen. It emerges at the intersection of expectation and experimentation, risk and resonance. It can be celebrated as the prelude to a great talent, or only reveal its full significance in retrospect. It can be the first step in a long filmography or remain a singular explosion of creative energy. And it always carries within it the potential to shape film history!
P.S. Thanks to Jana Renger and Chiara Kern for the new graphic design!