A Rainer Werner Fassbinder Film Retrospective is Coming to Manila and Baguio - Arts & Culture

The Goethe-Institut Philippines, the official cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany, is bringing a film retrospective of one of Germany’s most polarizing and acclaimed filmmakers, Rainer Werner Fassbinder to Manila and Baguio from March 10 to April 22, 2018.

Fassbinder is one of the most prominent figures in the New German Cinema movement and garnered a worldwide reputation for his intriguing motion pictures. Although the auteur had a short lived film career that only lasted 16 years (Fassbinder died of overdose in 1982), his active years resulted to a legacy of 39 films, 6 made for television movies, 3 short films, 4 video productions, 24 stage plays and 4 radio plays. He is often cited as a great influence of post-war period German filmmaking.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Fassbinder


Held at two venues, the Goethe-Institut’s retrospective will include 11 Fassbinder motion pictures and one documentary about him. The genres range from art house pictures, Hollywood-inspired female-centric tearjerkers, thrillers, sci-fi movies, and dramatic period pieces. The Institute’s main object is to “bring multifaceted images of modern Germany to the world.” This time, through one of their filmmaking treasures, Rainer Werner Fassbineder. With a presence in the Philippines for over fifty years, Goethe-Institut has stated in a press release that they “foster partnership and cultural exchange between our nations and provide access to German language and culture for everyone.”

Catch the Fassbinder retrospective in two venues this coming March. The first being the Ili Likha Artsits Village in Baguio from March 10 to April. Lika is located near the University of Baguio and Saint Louis School Center’s Elementary Department. In Manila, the film festival will be held on April 7 to April 22 at the Cinematheque Centre Manila, near Luneta Park and Araullo High School. Admission is free on a first come, first serve basis.

Scroll down for complete summaries of each film showing at the retrospective.

For more information email [email protected] or telephone +63 2 817 0978


By Chino R. Hernandez

FILM LINE-UP AND SUMMARIES COURTESY OF THE GOETHE INSTITUT PHILIPPINEN:

Fassbinder (2015)
Fassbinder (2015)


FASSBINDER (2015)
1 hr and 35 mins

Commissioned by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation to commemorate what would have been the director’s 70th birthday, Fassbinder was made with unprecedented access to the filmmaker’s family and friends. The result is a thoughtful collection of interviews with Fassbinder’s closest collaborators, colleagues and companions, with unpublished audio and rare archival footage of Fassbinder himself.

Katzelmacher (1969)
Katzelmacher (1969)


KATZELMACHER (1969)
1 hr 28 mins

Marie belongs to Erich. Paul sleeps with Helga. Elisabeth keeps Peter. Rosy does it with Franz for money. They meet in the courtyard, at the pub, on the playground, in their apartments. They get together one-on-one, in pairs or as the entire group, and they exchange their views, they are aggressive, get sick of one another, drink, get bored … It is not until Jorgos, “the Greek from Greece” steps into their world that xenophobia, envy of his sexual prowess, and aggression break loose.

Der Händler der vier Jahreszeiten (1971) (The Marchant of Four Seasons)
Der Händler der vier Jahreszeiten (1971) (The Marchant of Four Seasons)


DER HÄNDLER DER VIER JAHRESZEITEN/ THE MERCHANT OF FOUR SEASONS (1971)
1 hr 28 mins

Hans Epp, ex-foreign legionnaire and ex-cop, works the courtyards with his fruit cart. Much has gone wrong in his life. He never managed to live up to his mother’s expectations, he was not allowed to marry his big love due to class differences. He drinks and beats his wife, who lives at his side without any love and who takes care of the child and the household. Until one day, he suffers a heart attack.

Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (1972) (The Bitter Tears of Petran von Kant)
Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (1972) (The Bitter Tears of Petran von Kant)


DIE BITTEREN TRÄNEN DER PETRA VON KANT/ THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT (1972)

2 hrs and 4 mins

An arrogant fashion designer falls in love with an icy beauty who wants to be a model.

Martha (1973)
Martha (1973)


MARTHA (1973)
1 hr 51 mins

The story of a less than ordinary marriage. After her father dies, Martha flies the parental nest and gets married, replacing one type of dependency with another until she finally becomes completely helpless when an accident confines her to a wheelchair – a situation which, in an intriguingly ambivalent way, she seems to relish.

Angst essen Seele auf (1983) (Fear Eats the Soul)
Angst essen Seele auf (1983) (Fear Eats the Soul)


ANGST ESSEN SEELE AUF/ FEAR EATS THE SOUL (1973)
1 hr and 33 mins

An almost accidental romance is kindled between a German woman in her mid-sixties and a Moroccan migrant worker around twenty-five years younger. They abruptly decide to marry, appalling everyone around them.

Faustrecht Der Freiheit (1974) (Fox and his Friends)
Faustrecht Der Freiheit (1974) (Fox and his Friends)


FAUSTRECHT DER FREIHEIT/ FOX AND HIS FRIENDS (1974)
2 hrs and 3 mins

A young West German working-class man wins the lottery and initiates a relationship with a man above his social standing.

Chinesisches Roulette (1976) (Chinese Roulette)
Chinesisches Roulette (1976) (Chinese Roulette)


CHINESISCHES ROULETTE/ CHINESE ROULETTE (1976)
1 hr and 22 mins

The story of a long weekend at a secluded Franconian country estate. As a surprise to all parties concerned, the property owners meet there, although they had assured each other that they would be gone on business travel in very different directions. Those who meet are the couple Ariane and Gerhard Christ and their respective lovers Irene and Kolbe. Totally unexpectedly, another party arrives: Ariane and Gerhard’s mobility-impaired daughter Angela and her mute governess Traunitz. Acting out of injured love and wounded self-esteem, Angela asks all present to play “Chinese Roulette,” a game of truth.

Die Ehe Der Maria Braun (1978) (The Marraige of Maria Braun)
Die Ehe Der Maria Braun (1978) (The Marraige of Maria Braun)


DIE EHE DER MARIA BRAUN/ THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN (1978)
1 hr and 55 mins

Maria marries Hermann Braun in the last days of World War II, only to have him disappear in the war. Alone, Maria uses her beauty and ambition to prosper in Germany’s “economic miracle” of the 1950’s.

Lili Marleen (1980)
Lili Marleen (1980)


LILI MARLEEN (1980)
2 hrs

From the beginning, the love Willie has for Robert is sorely tested. The apparently peaceful Zurich of 1938 is already overshadowed by the coming events. Robert’s father is an influential lawyer and director of a Jewish refugee organization who tries hard to prevent Willie′s return to Switzerland. World events drive the two further and further apart. When war breaks out their connection seems completely severed. But Willie is fortunate. A song she recorded some time before, and which seemed forgotten, is broadcast by the military broadcasting station in Belgrade, pervading the solitude of the soldiers. The song will outlast the war, but love will not.

Die Sehnsucht Der Veronika Voss (1981) (Veronika Voss)
Die Sehnsucht Der Veronika Voss (1981) (Veronika Voss)


DIE SEHNSUCHT DER VERONIKA VOSS/ VERONIKA VOSS (1981)
1 hr and 44 mins

Once-beloved Third Reich–era starlet Veronika Voss lives in obscurity in postwar Munich. Struggling for survival and haunted by past glories, the forgotten star encounters sportswriter Robert Krohn in a rain-swept park and intrigues him with her mysterious beauty. As their unlikely relationship develops, Krohn comes to discover the dark secrets behind the faded actresses’ demise.

Lola (1981)
Lola (1981)


LOLA (1981)
1 hr and 53 mins

Germany in the autumn of 1957: Lola, a seductive cabaret singer-prostitute exults in her power as a temptress of men, but she wants out—she wants money, property, and love. Pitting a corrupt building contractor against the new straight-arrow building commissioner, Lola launches an outrageous plan to elevate herself in a world where everything, and everyone, is for sale.

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