24 October 2019
Akademie der Künste Opens Peter Lilienthal Archive
Event on 29 October 2019, Hanseatenweg
The Akademie der Künste has taken over the archive of film director Peter Lilienthal, which it will open on 29 October with an event taking place on Hanseatenweg. The welcoming address will be held by Berlin Mayor Michael Müller and Jeanine Meerapfel, filmmaker and President of the Akademie der Künste. This will be followed by a discussion with Peter Lilienthal, María Teresa Curzio, Eva Mattes and Jeanine Meerapfel, to be presented by Johannes Kagerer, author of the documentary film Eine Sprache für Freunde – Leben und Werk von Peter Lilienthal (2019). The evening's event will conclude with a screening of Peter Lilienthal's film David (BRD 1979, 122 Min.), winner of the Golden Bear, in which he deals with his childhood during the Third Reich.
Peter Lilienthal, born 1929 in Berlin, fled to Uruguay with his parents in 1939 to escape the National Socialists. He returned to Berlin in 1954 as a student, and became an important representative of New German Cinema. Before making feature films for cinema, Lilienthal made a name for himself as an experimental, exciting and bold creator of television films. He succeeded in creating a recognisable visual language like only few directors have been able to do. Lilienthal's later films explored the volatile political developments in Latin America. In 1984 he was one of the founding members of the Akademie der Künste's Film and Media Arts Section, and later served as its director until 1996. His archive comprises some 10,000 pages of screenplay manuscripts, production documents, photos, correspondence and biographical material. It is now indexed and available for research purposes. https://archiv.adk.de/bigobjekt/16713
The opening of the archive at the Akademie der Künste marks the start of an extensive retrospective featuring films by Peter Lilienthal on the occasion of his 90th birthday on 27 November 2019. Eight newly restored and digitised cinematic films will be screened at the Kino Arsenal, and seven television films will be screened at the Zeughauskino. The film series and restorations were made possible through a cooperation between Deutsche Kinemathek and von Vietinghoff Filmproduktion, Zeughauskino, the Akademie der Künste and Edgar Reitz Filmstiftung. The digitisation of the films was supported by the cinematic heritage funding programme of the German Federal Film Board. Some of the digitised films will also be released on DVD. Lighthouse Home Entertainment is currently releasing an initial DVD box set with the films Dear Mr. Wonderful, The Autograph and David. Another box set is in the works.
Event Information
An Evening with Peter Lilienthal. Archive Opening
Tuesday, 29 October, 2019, 7 pm, € 6/4
Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg, 10557 Berlin
Press tickets at presse@adk.de or by phone at 030 20057-1514
Peter Lilienthal Retrospective at Kino Arsenal
30 October to 10 November 2019, € 8
On 30 and 31 October, in the presence of Peter Lilienthal
Potsdamer Strasse 2, 10785 Berlin
www.deutsche-kinemathek.de / www.arsenal-berlin.de
From the television archive: Peter Lilienthal. Zeughauskino
Until 4 December 2019, free admission
Unter den Linden 2, 10117 Berlin
www.dhm.de/zeughauskino
For enquiries regarding the Peter Lilienthal Archive:
Dr. Torsten Musial, Head of the Film and Media Arts Archives of the Akademie der Künste, Tel. 030 200 57-3258, musial@adk.de