In early 1943, just as Nazi Germany began its collapse with the surrender at Stalingrad, the famed Ufa Studios released an elaborate super-spectacle to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary. Produced at the enormous cost of 6.5 million Reichsmarks, and filmed in Agfacolor, MUNCHHAUSEN was the bizarre Nazi response to such extravaganzas as Britain's The Thief of Bagdad and Hollywood's The Wizard of Oz, both of which were jealously admired by Propaganda Minister Goebbels. Starring Hans Albers, the hypnotic, blond superstar (who kept a Jewish lover safely in London), and a bevy of female stars, the film was meant to divert a German public, and those in occupied Europe, then experiencing aerial bombardment as well as extensive military casualties.

WED. April 11, 2018 – 7:00 PM

Germany/ Austria 2012, 123 min

Directed by Detlev Buck

Cast: Florian David Fritz, Albrecht Abraham Schuch, Jérémy Kapone, Sunnyi Melles, Karl Markovics, Katharina Thalbach

Most human beings don't know why they are on earth, they accept their destiny and try to survive.

Based on Daniel Kehlmann’s novel (a best-seller in Germany), Measuring the World chronicles the explorations of two iconic 19th-century figures, scientist Alexander von Humboldt and mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. Press materials describe this as “a visually stunning epic”; that’s probably no PR hype, given that the cinematographer here is the great Slawomir Idziak, who shot Kieslowski’s Blue and The Double Life of Veronique.

WED. May 9, 2018 – 7:00 PM

Germany 1999, 125 min

Directed by Max Färberböck

Cast: Maria Schrader, Juliane Köhler

In 1943, while the Allies are bombing Berlin and the Gestapo is purging the capital of Jews, a dangerous love affair blossoms between two women. One of them, Lilly Wust (NOWHERE IN AFRICA’s Juliane Köhler), married and the mother of four sons, enjoys the privileges of her stature as an exemplar of Nazi motherhood. For her, this affair will be the most decisive experience of her life. For the other woman, Felice Schragenheim (Maria Schrader), a Jewess and member of the underground, their love fuels her with the hope that she will survive.

WED. June 13, 2018 – 7:00 PM

WED. July 11, 2018 – 7:00 PM

The Lies of the Victors (Die Lügen der Sieger)

Germany 2014
Director Christoph Hochhäusler
Cast: Florian David Fitz, Lilith Stangenberg, Horst Kotterba, Ursina Lardi

Fabian Groys, a renowned journalist for a political news magazine, enjoys great freedom since the stories he uncovers make for good sales. When he is saddled with an intern, he reacts sulkily, but after losing his hot story about questionable army policy towards injured veterans, he switches to a gory zoo story that he’d actually meant to leave to the intern. But there seems to be more behind the suicide of a man who had himself torn to shreds by a lion. Signs proliferate indicating that the two stories are interlinked. Is it pure coincidence, or is Groys the victim of nebulous figures who are skillfully feeding him information? Is he still an independent investigative journalist or has he long since been made into a puppet captured in the sticky threads of a web, spun by forces unknown? And if this is the case, how can Groys regain his independence if he is battling an opponent who never steps out of the shadows?

WED. AUGUST 08, 2018 - 7:00 PM

Germany, 2013 - 95 min

Director: Axel Ranisch

Cast: Frithjof Gawenda, Heiko Pinkowski Christina Grosse, Robert Alexander Baer, Talisa Lilli Lemke, Christian Steiffen, Rosa von Praunheim,

Actually, Florian is happiest when his dad isn’t at home. Then he can dance around the house with his mum, wear crazy costumes and forget all his troubles. And Hanno doesn’t really know what to do with his son, who has two left hands, a far too big belly and is interested in neither sports nor girls. But it’s not that bad! There is still mum. With a tender dominance she keeps the family’s fragile harmony in check and protects her two men from each other. At least until one terrible morning, when the house of cards collapses and mum vanishes from their lives from one moment to the next. Father and son are left behind, overwhelmed, but gradually learn to cope and find common ground. This is the story of ICH FÜHL MICH DISCO. sometimes humorous and absurd, sometimes sad, sometimes fabulous.

Remembering Romy Schneider on her

80th birthday

WED. September 12, 2018 - 7:00 PM

Germany/ France, 1982 - 108 min

Director: Jacques Rouffio, colour, 108 min., 1982

Cast: Romy Schneider, Michel Piccoli, Helmut Griem, Mathieu Carrière, Gérard Klein, Wendelin Werner, Maria Schell

Paris, in the early 1980s: Max Baumstein, a successful businessman and committed human rights activist, shoots the ambassador of Paraguay and immediately turns himself in to the police. When he is being tried for murder, he explains the background of his action. The story begins with the start of the Third Reich and Nazi terror, under which Max suffered as a 12-year-old. After the assassination of his father, Elsa Wiener, the wife of a publisher, flees with Max to Paris.

WED. Oct. 10, 2018 - 7:00 PM

Director: Stephan Wagner, colour, 89 min., 2015

Cast: Ulrich Noethen, David Kross, Dieter Schaad, Bernhard Schütz, Nathalie Thiede, Attila Georg Borlan

The political drama sheds light on the historical figure Fritz Bauer, the Hessian Chief Public Prosecutor who was involved in the capture of Adolf Eichmann between 1959 and 1962.

In the early years of the Federal Republic, politics and the law in the late 1950s are still being controlled by an old-boy network made up of Nazis who had only been reformed on the surface. The Hessian Chief Public Prosecutor Fritz Bauer is fighting a lone battle against the cover-up of Nazi crimes and the restorative policies of the Adenauer government – he’s convinced that this is the only way the young democracy can stabilize.

WED. Nov. 14, 2018 – 7:00 PM

Director: Nick Baker-Monteys

Cast: Juergen Prochnow, Petra Schmidt-Schaller, Tambet Tuisk, Suzanne von Borsody

A former German World War II officer journeys to the Ukraine with his granddaughter to find the only woman he ever loved - just as a new war breaks out in the former Soviet Union in Spring 2014.

The gripping and touching drama about love, forgiveness and the long shadows of the past sends its protagonists Jürgen Prochnow ("The Boat", "The English Patient", "The Da Vinci Code") as the old man and Petra Schmidt-Schaller ("Stereo", "My life in Orange"), one of the most talented German actresses as his granddaughter, on an exciting road trip through a land in turmoil. Helmed by prize-winning director Nick Baker Monteys ("The Man Who Jumped Cars").

This is an additional special screening of JIM BUTTON AND LUKE THE ENGINE DRIVER (Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer).

In the tradition of special films in Germany for the holiday season, this screening is FREE for all children under 12 yrs and GENERAL ADMISSION is $7.00.

SUN. DEC. 2, 2018 @ 3.00 PM @ the Clinton Street Theater.

Germany 2018, 105 min.

Directed by: Dennis Gansel
Cast: Henning Baum, Kao Chenmin, Andy Cheung, Tadashi Endo

When an orphaned baby is mysteriously delivered to the island of Morrowland, the four inhabitants decide to raise him as their own and name him Jim. When he turns ten and learns of how he came to the island, he yearns to un-cover his true origins. Tagging along with his friend Luke, Jim sets out on the adventure of a lifetime in an unstoppable train engine—across seas, deserts, forests, mountains, and even volcanoes. In the magical town of Mandala they learn that the Emperor’s daughter, Princess Li Si, has been captured by pirates, and the two decide to risk it all and travel to the treacherous Dragon City to save her. Based on the book by Michael Ende (The Neverending Story), this visual feast with breathtaking special effects is an entertaining epic about friendship and self-discovery and has make its Oregon premiere at #PGFF2018

It received the German Young Literature Prize in 1961 and has been translated into 33 languages Its huge success later spawned the sequel Jim Button and the Wild 13 (original title: Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13).

WED. Dec. 12, 2018 – 7:00 PM

From the West (Aus westlichen Richtungen)

(Juliane Henrich, Germany, 2016, 61 min)

** Filmmaker in attendance! This screening is co-presented with Goethe Pop Up Seattle **

The film essay From the West opens with a child’s question of what “the West” means beyond the cardinal direction, then goes on to retrace how “the West” as a model of society, inscribed itself in the Federal Republic of Germany’s postwar history and architecture.

WED. Jan. 9, 2019 – 7:00 PM

Director: Christian Schwochow, colour, 88 min., 2014

Cast: Charly Hübner, Milan Peschel, Rainer Bock, Max Hopp, Ludwig Trepte, Ulrich Matthes, Frederick Lau

9 November, 1989: At the Bornholmer Straße border checkpoint in Berlin, GDR soldiers and customs officers are shocked by an announcement made by Günter Schabowski, member of the Central Committee of the Politburo of the SED, as he reveals in a press conference, broadcast live on television, that all East German citizens will be allowed to cross into the West. Many people are caught up in the euphoria – and not realising that they still require a passport and visa, head straight to their nearest checkpoint. Lieutenant Colonel Schäfer and his men still haven’t realised what will be in store for them later that evening. It ends with the border being opened – the beginning of the end for the GDR. BORNHOLMER STRASSE is a magnificently ironic and astonishingly moving comedy about hope meeting despair and heroes who have no desire to be such.

If Not Us, Who? (Wer wenn nicht wir)

WED. Feb. 13, 2019 – 7:00 PM

There will be an introduction by Prof. Carrie Collenberg Gonzalez, Ph.D. from Portland State University, starting at 6.00 PM - THIS SCREENING IS FREE FOR STUDENTS W/ID

Germany 2011, 124 min
Director: Andres Veiel
Cast: August Diehl, Lena Lauzemis, Alexander Fehling

West Germany in the early 1960s. The country is quiet – for the time being. Bernward Vesper takes up his studies in Tübingen where he is attending Walter Jens’ seminar on rhetoric. Bernward wants to be a writer and spends his nights bashing the keys of a typewriter. At the same time he is keen to defend his father, the poet Will Vesper who was celebrated by the Nazis as a proponent of their ‘Blood and Soil’ ideology. The land where Bernward lives is being suffocated by its past. The war has only been over for fifteen years, old Nazis are back in positions of power, and nobody is prepared to talk about war crimes; the Republic is standing to attention.

WED. April 10, 2019 – 7:00 PM

Germany, 2016, 90 min.

Director: Dominik Graf, Johannes F. Sievert

Cast: Klaus Lemke, Roland Klick, Werner Enke, Olaf Möller, Lisa Gotto, Stefan Lukschy, Gisela Hahn, Martin Müller, Frank Tönsmann, Artur Brauner, Wolfgang Büld, Mario Adorf u.a.

This film begins with the premise of a silent reproach: The proponents of the Oberhausen Manifesto of 1962 - for many marking the birth of New German Cinema - with their problem-laden work, have stood in the way of a freer, and perhaps more entertaining development of cinema at home. Dominik Graf focuses on some nearly-forgotten outsiders from those times, people like Roland Klick and Klaus Lemke. His views are often contradictory, but inspire a critical re-appraisal of the nineteen sixties and nineteen seventies.

WED. May 8, 2019 – 7:00 PM

Germany, 2015, 120 min.

Director: Wolfgang Becker,

Cast: Daniel Brühl, Jesper Christensen, Amira Casar, Denis Lavant, Jördis Triebel, Geraldine Chaplin, Jan Decleir

Germany in the 90s: Art critic Sebastian Zöllner is on the hunt for glory. He wants to write a tell-all book about Manuel Kaminski, a once prominent, now almost forgotten painter, pupil of Matisse and friend of Picasso, who’s retreated to a chalet in Graubünden and has long been blind. Zöllner tracks him down, unscrupulously invades his life, steals some of his late paintings, and entices him to travel to Belgium, where Kamiski's childhood sweetheart Theresa, who’s long been assumed dead, is thought to live. On the way, Zöllner begins to suspect that the old man might have the advantage over him.

WED., June 12, 2019 - 07.00 PM

Germany, 2017, 98 min, Color & bw
In German; English subtitles

Director: Jochen Hick
Cast: Klaus Schumann, René Koch, Rosa von Praunheim, Wilfried Laule, Salomé, Gerhard Hoffmann, Egmont Fassbinder, Peter Hedeström, Wieland Speck, Wolfgang Theis, Romy Haag and others

Germany's infamous Paragraph 175, which had made sexual acts between men a criminal offence since 1872, was only officially repealed in 1994. However, since the 1960s - with West Berlin being the only place were men could at least dance with other men - there had been public locales there, which became a refuge for young gay men from the Federal Republic. Using hitherto unpublished and often provocative archive material, and with support from many contemporary witnesses, Jochen Hick in this documentary film is researching the historical development of the gay scene from its antecedents until today.

WED. July 10, 2019 – 7:00 PM

Germany, 1985, 86 min.

Director: Percy Adlon

Cast: Marianne Sägebrecht, Eisi Gulp, Toni Berger, Manuela Denz 

A little overweight, not as young as she was, employed as a funeral attendant – her life passes by monotonously. One day, however, the voice of a subway driver strikes her like a bolt of lightning. She does everything she can to get to know the man of her dreams. She takes time off to investigate the duty roster and the life of her ‘sugar baby’, buying herself pumps and lingerie. Once she’s finally lured the young man into her net, an unusual romance begins… Immersed in bright, primary colors by camerawoman Johanna Heer, the film is brought to life not least by its leading actors, the fascinating Marianne Sägebrecht and the absurdly naïve Eisi Gulp.

WED. AUGUST 14, 2019 - 7:00 PM

Germany 2011, 113 min.

Director: Sebastian Grobler

Cast:  Daniel Brühl (Konrad Koch), Burghart Klaußner (Schuldirektor Gustav Merfeld), Kathrin von Steinburg (Klara Bornstedt), Justus von Dohnányi (Richard Hartung)

Based on the true story of the teacher and football pioneer Konrad Koch, “LESSONS OF A DREAM” relates the story of the beginnings of football in Germany, and of a school class that develops into a real team when they are infected with their new teacher’s football fever. Travelling back in time, the story depicts an era in which schools were still places where good breeding and order reigned and football itself (not the hooliganism, as the term later came to describe) was defined as an “English disease” by the media.

WED. SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 – 7:00 PM

Germany | 2017 | 90:00 min

Director Charly Hübner, Sebastian Schultz

“Wildes Herz” is a film about “Feine Sahne Fischfilet”, one of the most successful German punk rock bands, and their lead singer, Jan “Monchi” Gorkow. A young band who are under surveillance by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which gives them the right to call themselves the most dangerous band in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. A film that shows how musicians fight against Nazis and feelings of emptiness and frustration, in a region where home means the beautiful flat countryside. With music that’s quite unlike their home: strong, loud, joyous.

WED. OCTOBER 9, 2019 - 07.00 PM

Germany 2018, 100 min.

Director: Caroline Link

Cast: Julius Weckauf, Luise Heyer, Sonke Mohring, Joachim Krol, Ursula Werner

You know you've made it as one of your country's most famous celebrities when they make a movie about your childhood. Such is All About Me—whose German title translates to The Boy Needs Some Fresh Air—a sweet origin story about Hape Kerkeling, one of Germany's most beloved comedians and television hosts.

WED. NOVEMBER 13, 2019 - 7:00 PM

Germany 2014, 93 min

Director: Johannes Naber

Cast: Devid Striesow, Sebastian Blomberg, Katharina Schüttler

Cut-throat business consultants Öllers and Niederländer travel the world without ever really seeing it. In advising companies on how to maximize profits, the two have managed to insulate themselves from the dangerous locations where they conduct business by never leaving their 5-star hotels. Models of ruthless efficiency, both hope to secure partnerships at their nameless company. When Bianca, a newly hired younger female consultant is sent to assist in the negotiations, her constant critique of her colleagues’ unscrupulous behavior with clients and hotel staff alike is unsettling to the executives, who pride themselves on their ability to remain emotionally disconnected. C

The Legend of Timm Thaler or The Boy Who Sold His Laughter
(Timm Thaler oder das verkaufte Lachen)

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2019 - 3:00 PM  (Special Screening)

Germany 2017, 102 min.

Director: Andreas Dresen

Cast:  Arved Friese, Justus von Dohnányi, Axel Prahl

Timm Thaler is poor, but he laughs a lot, and often. His laughter is so charming and contagious that a diabolical Baron wants, at all costs, to have it for himself. And so the world’s richest man makes the boy a dubious offer: if Timm agrees to sell him his laugh, he’ll win every bet he ever makes in the future. After hesitating at first, Timm signs the contract. But though he can now seemingly fulfill his every wish, without his laugh, he is a different person. Only Timm’s friends can save him now. Based on a the young adult fiction by James Krüss.
​

WED. DECEMBER 11, 2019 - 7:00 PM

MAGICAL MYSTERY OR: THE RETURN OF KARL SCHMIDT (MAGICAL MYSTERY ODER DIE RÜCKKEHR DES KARL SCHMIDT)

Germany 2017, 111 min.

Director: Arne Feldhusen

Cast: Charly Hübner, Annika Meier, Detlev Buck

It’s as if the glory days of the 1990s never ended in this techno-fueled rave across the German countryside. Based on the novel by best-selling German author Sven Regener, MAGICAL MYSTERY follows recovering alcoholic Karl Schmidt (a brilliant Charly Hübner), who finds himself reunited with his old friends, who have now become successful DJs. Quickly enlisted as designated driver for their upcoming tour, Karl must keep the party-happy musicians in line while adapting to the world outside of rehab.

In our Monthly Film Series, we will show a variety of GERMAN or GERMAN language films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. On the 2nd Wednesday of each month, audiences will now have a chance to see these films on a regular basis at the CLINTON STREET THEATER. (Children movies will be playing on Sunday afternoons – please check our website.) All films are with English subtitles.

Bauhaus Spirit: 100 Years of Bauhaus (Vom Bauen der Zukunft – 100 Jahre Bauhaus)

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 8, 2020 – 7:00 PM 

Germany 2018, 90 min.

A hundred years ago, a radical artistic utopia was born in the city of Weimar: Bauhaus, one of our century's most influential architectural schools, which still sets the pattern for the way we live today. Against the backdrop of the 100th anniversary of Bauhaus, this documentary not only shares art history but also the history of an era that stretches from the early 20th century to the modern day.

From the very beginning, Bauhaus architects and artists, including Walter Gropius, Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee, asked: How should we live together? What does "living together" mean? How can rooms be designed in such a way that all people can be part of a community? Bauhaus made art, design and architecture political.

Bauhaus continues to manifest itself at the avantgarde of sustainable and future-oriented architecture. Looking at the history of this movement, this celebratory documentary questions how we want to live and where we want to go from here.

In our Monthly Film Series, we will show a variety of GERMAN or GERMAN language films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. On the 2nd Wednesday of each month, audiences will now have a chance to see these films on a regular basis at the CLINTON STREET THEATER. (Children movies will be playing on Sunday afternoons – please check our website.) All films are with English subtitles.

WESTEN (West)

Director Christian Schwochow

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 12, 2020 – 7:00 PM

Germany 2013, 102 min.

Following theater closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Virtual screening rooms are created specifically for your cinema to open engagements of acclaimed new releases and generate revenue for your theater during this difficult time.   

This special screening will start at the Clinton Street Theater on Friday, June 12, 2020 - co-presented by the Portland German Film Festival.

AVAILABLE STARTING JUNE 12 FOR PRIDE MONTH   New Restorations of 3 "Way Ahead of Their Times" Classics PIONEERS OF QUEER CINEMA on Virtual screening rooms created specifically for your cinema to open engagements of acclaimed new releases and generate revenue for your theater during this difficult time.   SPECIAL REPERTORY TICKET PRICE: $15 FOR ALL 3 FILMS

In our Monthly Film Series, we will show a variety of GERMAN or GERMAN language films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. On the 2nd Wednesday of each month, audiences will now have a chance to see these films on a regular basis at the CLINTON STREET THEATER. (Children movies will be playing on Sunday afternoons – please check our website.) All films are with English subtitles.   TICKETS here!

The Cleaners (Im Schatten der Netzwelt)

Wednesday, May 12, 2021 at 7.00 PM

In our Monthly Film Series, we will show a variety of GERMAN or GERMAN language films from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. On the 2nd Wednesday of each month, audiences will now have a chance to see these films on a regular basis at the CLINTON STREET THEATER. (Children movies will be playing on Sunday afternoons – please check our website.) All films are with English subtitles.

3 days in Quiberon (3 Tage in Quiberon)

WEDNESDAY, July 14, 2021 – 7:00 PM

Germany, Austria, France 2018, 115 min

Director & Screenplay: Emily Atef

Cast: Marie Bäumer, Birgit Minichmayr, Charly Hübner, Robert Gwisdek

1981, Quiberon, a small village on the coast of Brittany. Hilde arrives to visit her old friend, who has retreated to a spa hotel to escape the daily pressures of her life. Her friend is world-famous star Romy Schneider, but together they come across as two ordinary women who are simply happy to be reunited. Shortly afterwards, the young journalist Michael Jürgs and Romy’s long-time acquaintance, photographer Robert Lebeck, arrive to conduct an interview for a large German publication. A cat-and-mouse game immediately ensues between the fragile diva and the ambitious author. The two embark on an emotional rollercoaster ride that fluctuates between tenderness and mutual manipulation. At the same time, Hilde tries to protect her friend from the journalists’ attempts to capture for their audience the innermost feelings of this fascinating woman. All this keeps these four people deeply engaged for three days and nights.