Screening & Discussion

Cologne: »Menschen am Sonntag - People on Sunday 2010«

with Prof. Barbara Boyle, Chair of the School of Theater, Film & Television at UCLA & producer

Building bridges was the motto of the summer school organized by the ifs internationale filmschule köln in 2010. In order to experience and continue a part German-American film history they invited students from the UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, to Cologne. On May 30, 2012, the German premiere took place at the Museum Ludwig. Following the invitation by the ifs internationale filmschule köln and the Amerika Haus e.V. NRW, more than 200 guests joined filmmakers and actors who came all the way from the United States, the most prominent visitor being Professor Barbara Boyle, Chair of the School of Theater, Film & Television at UCLA and producer of movies such as Platoon, Terminator, and Instinct.

Words of welcome were spoken by Marc Jan Eumann, Minister of State for Federal Affairs, Europe and the Media of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Petra Müller, Managing Director of the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Jeane Freifrau von Oppenheim, Chair of the Amerika Haus e.V. NRW, and Simone Stewens, Managing Director of the ifs internationale filmschule köln. Professor Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth, ifs, who initiated this project, introduced the guests into the topic. In so doing, he described the four phases of German-American relations in cinematic art and how they have been shaped by social and political events, particularly World War Two. As one of the last productions before the German-Jewish exile to Hollywood, Professor Freyermuth chose “Menschen am Sonntag” from 1930 to inspire the new transatlantic project. To imitate the ancient model being one of the last and at the same time most successful silent movies of all times the students were challenged to reinterpret the distinctive style of this low-budget semi-documentary.

Constituting German-American teams the students created their own ”People on Sunday 2010” introducing the audience to these characters in their short movies named  „L+M“, „Transitions“, „Playtime“, and „The Garden“. Their stories tell about love and cheat, creative crisis and identification processes, friendship and faith.

Following the film presentation, Prof. Dr. Lisa Gotto, ifs internationale filmschule köln, welcomed Prof. Barbara Boyle and Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth to join a talk with the two young directors Lucas Mireles, “Playtime”, and Nancy Mac Granaky-Quaye, “The Garden”, all of them highlighting how they enjoyed the artistic value of this joint project. Moreover, they all appreciated the experience of being creative without having a high budget and of how to generate tension via a semi-documentary style. Thus, friendship, faith, and inspiration did not only take place in front of the cameras but also behind the scenes – a new leaf of transatlantic movie history has been turned over.

Moderation: Prof. Dr. Lisa Gotto, Professor for Film history and analysis at the ifs

Summary by Svea Burmester, Amerika Haus e.V. NRW

Amerika Haus e.V. NRW
Telephone: 0221 – 169 26 350 │ Fax: 0221 – 169 26 308
E-Mail: info@amerikahaus-nrw.de │ www.amerikahaus-nrw.de

In cooperation with ifs internationale filmschule GmbH.

With kind support of FilmInitiativ Köln e. V. and the City of Cologne.