German Film Night

Come enjoy a German film, with English sub-titles, at the German Free School (507 E. 10th St., Austin) on the fourth Friday of the month (except Jun, Jul, Aug & Dec). Doors open at 7:00 pm, and the film starts at 7:30 pm. Admission is free. Free popcorn, pretzels and pre-film Gemütlichkeit are on tap. Feel welcome to bring your beverages of choice. Seating is limited, so please RSVP to reserve a spot.

Upcoming Films

When Trudi learns that her husband Rudi is dangerously ill, she suggests visiting their child-ren in Berlin without telling him the truth. As Franzi and Karl don’t care much about their parents, Trudi and Rudi go to the Baltic Sea, where Trudi suddenly dies. Rudi is thrown out of gear, even more when he learns that his wife wanted to live a totally different life in Japan

Movies will resume on September 17!  Check back for more details.

Past Films

Friday, June 25 at 7:30 pm

Anonyma – Eine Frau in Berlin (“A Woman in Berlin”), 2008).

A nameless woman keeps a diary as the Russians invade Berlin in the spring of 1945. She is in her early 30s, a patriotic journalist with international credentials; her husband, Gerd, a writer, is an officer at the Russian front. She speaks Russian and, for a day or two after the invasion, keeps herself safe, but then the rapes begin. She resolves to control her fate and invites the attentions of a Russian major, Andreij Rybkin. He becomes her protector of sorts, subject to pressures from his own fellow soldiers and officers. Dramas play out in the block of flats where she lives. Is she an amoral traitor? She asks, “How do we go on living?” And what of Gerd and her diary?

Friday, May 21 at 7:30 pm

Kirschblüten – Hanami (“Cherry Blossoms”), 2008.

When Trudi learns that her husband Rudi is dangerously ill, she suggests visiting their child-ren in Berlin without telling him the truth. As Franzi and Karl don’t care much about their parents, Trudi and Rudi go to the Baltic Sea, where Trudi suddenly dies. Rudi is thrown out of gear, even more when he learns that his wife wanted to live a totally different life in Japan.

Friday, April 23 at 7:30 pm

“Effi Briest”,  (not rated, 1974), based on the 1894 novel by Theodor Fontane.

Effi Briest is a socially ambitious 17-year-old girl who accepts a proposal of marriage from Baron Geert von Instetten, a much older diplomat. Unfortunately, neither the Baron’s family nor anyone in the secluded town she now calls home accept Effi as an equal. Starved for companionship, Effi begins an innocent friendship with a well-known womanizer that may jeopardize her position as the Baron’s wife.

Friday, March 26 at 7:30 pm

“Buddenbrooks”, (not rated, 2006), based on the first novel by the Nobel Prize-winning author Thomas Mann.

As the 19th century gives way to a new era, four generations of a German merchant family cope with the changing times and their own conventions. Destiny ties the rise and fall of the Buddenbrookses’ fortunes to their conflicts between family loyalty and the drive for individual success.

Friday, February 26 at 7:30 pm

‘Der Untergang’ (Downfall), (rated R), 2004.

In April of 1945 Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Forces from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Hitler still proclaims that Germany will achieve victory with orders to fight to the last man. Der Untergang explores the final days of the Reich, where senior leaders began defecting in order to save themselves, while others pledge to die with Hitler.