When film and theater director Werner Schroeter died in 2010 at the age of 65 he was, undoubtedly, one of the most important creators of German cinema. However, the avant-garde and alternative tendencies characterizing his film essays and documents caused him to be pushed by critics to the margin of the New German Cinema. 

Fascinated by the opera and the concept of performance, he initially made non-narrative films, later moving on to fragmentary narratives, exploring the themes of love and death and their dangerous connections. He loved the opera singer Maria Callas and was inspired by theater. In 1980, his film “Palermo or Wolfsburg” achieved great success, receiving the Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival and making its creator world-famous. Schroeter worked with renown actresses: Isabelle Huppert, Bulle Ogier or the queer diva Magdalena Montezuma. In 2008, this fascinating and extravagant artist was awarded the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival. The sophisticated framing, light, scenery and costumes of Schroeter's shots still delight us and stun with their beauty. His works and life alike were filled with art and passion. After the screenings, the viewers are invited to Q&A sessions with our German guests: Thomas Mauch – camera operator, screenwriter, director and film producer and Elfi Mikesch - photographer, camera operator and film director. 

27th October 
Malina(1991) 
Duration 2H05   

A film based on the novel by Ingeborg Bachmann under the same title. For many years, the author, whose name is not revealed, has been living with Malina in Vienna. She falls in love with Ivan, a young Hungarian,  but he rejects her and has an affair with another. The heroine looses her footing and touch with reality. She sees Malina as her savior, her male alter ego, who urges her to kill Ivan. 

28th October 
Palermo or Wolfsburg (1980)  
Duration 3H  

In Sicily there is no work so 18-year-old Nicola, just like many of his countrymen, leaves for Germany. He finds employment at a Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg and falls in love with Brigitte. However, she uses their relationship to impress her friends. In a fight Nicola kills two Germans and must face trial. Some say that Werner Schroeter made two films: Palermo, or Life and Wolfsburg, or Death. 

29th October 
Two (2002)  
Duration 2H  

A Surrealistic Autobiography of Werner Schroeter’s. Magdalena and Maria – the twins – played by Isabelle Huppert, are raised separately and none of them is aware of the existence if other. The scenes from the lives of the sisters and their mother are combined into a collage, an image of hidden passions and thoughts. 

30th October 
This Night (2008)  
Duration 2H 

Santa María is a city suspended between life and death. Ossorio, the hero of unsuccessful resistance movement, returns to the besieged city in search of his old friends and lover. However, the situation in the city is different and his old friends have changed. The unscrupulous militia units terrorize the city and everyone is trying to save themselves. Ossorio has only one night left to find the truth and to escape. 

31st October 
Mondo Lux – The World in Pictures of Werner Schroeter (2011) 
Direction Elfi Mikesch 
Duration 1H37   

In 2007, Werner Schroeter finds out he has cancer. Thus begins his race against time. At that moment he was working on the Schönheit der Schatten (The Beauty of Shadows), a musical production based on the works of Robert Schumann and Heinrich Heine. Elfi Mikesch, operating the camera on many of his films, paints a subjective picture of the artist’s work in his four final years.  She gives us an extraordinary documentary about fascination with the cinema, theater and photography. 

Organisers Goethe-Institut, CSW Łaźnia/Gdańsk, Nowy Teatr