
Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz 1992-2017. The end of the GDR gave rise to new artistic freedoms in reunited Berlin. Shortly after the fall of the Wall, rebel director Frank Castorf was appointed artistic director of the Volksbühne. His way of working altered the public’s perception of this theater. The chronological history of the Castorf era between 1992 and 2017 is told here in excerpts from the productions and in a series of conversations conducted on the long sofa in the theater's foyer.


Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz 1992-2017. The end of the GDR gave rise to new artistic freedoms in reunited Berlin. Shortly after the fall of the Wall, rebel director Frank Castorf was appointed artistic director of the Volksbühne. His way of working altered the public’s perception of this theater. The chronological history of the Castorf era between 1992 and 2017 is told here in excerpts from the productions and in a series of conversations conducted on the long sofa in the theater's foyer.
2018-02-21
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Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz 1992-2017
5.0Ethnologist and adventurer, Count Eric von Rosen was a man of contradictions: interested in the natives of Africa and colonial racism. Nestler embarks on a journey in search of his grandfather.
0.0Wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer and his wife, environmentalist Leanne Allison follow a herd of 120,000 caribou on foot across 1500 km of Arctic tundra, hoping to raise awareness of the threats to the caribou's survival. Along this journey, they brave torrid conditions, dangerous wildlife and treacherous terrain all in the hopes of learning the truth about this epic migration.
3.5Two adventurous women in love are desperate to have their own biological child. They take a chance on an experimental scientific process and make sperm from their own stem cells. Pregnant with humor and unexpected twists, their journey ultimately confirms that all life is a gift and all families are crazy.
6.5New York City's Stonewall Inn is regarded by many as the site of gay and lesbian liberation since it was at this bar that drag queens fought back against police June 27-28, 1969. This documentary uses extensive archival film, movie clips and personal recollections to construct an audiovisual history of the gay community before the Stonewall riots.
0.0Directed by Jorge Bodanzky, As Cores e Amores de Lore tells the story of German painter Eleonore Koch, Volpi's only disciple who, having settled in Brazil since World War II, lived freely and intensely, always dedicated to her art. Based on a series of meetings that the director had with the painter, the film portrays the last years of her life.
0.0Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama is best known for her inexhaustible creations involving polka dots, pumpkins, and vibrant colors. Her love of design has seen her join forces with top fashion houses.
0.0A documentary essay film about coincidences, shattered lives and posthumous fame. A found footage family film about love and passion, friendship and heartbreak in Berlin between the wars. But a film also about self-sufficiency and recycling, about the green movement and the environment – before these notions had yet been properly invented. And it touches the utopian potential of ideas that have lain buried in the ground of an island for the past 70 years. The film’s protagonist, Martin Elsaesser, was one of the most prominent modernist architects of Weimar Germany.
6.0A journey in sound through the unusual life and career of jazz legend Charles Lloyd. Lloyd's own voice, and those who worked with him over the last five decades help us discover and better understand this enigmatic man and his spiritual pursuit through music.
7.2In 1992, teenager Sandi Tan shot Singapore's first indie road movie with her enigmatic American mentor Georges – who then vanished with all the footage. Twenty years later, the 16mm film is recovered, sending Tan, now a novelist in Los Angeles, on a personal odyssey in search of Georges' vanishing footprints.
6.5When two siblings undertake an archaeological excavation of their late grandmother’s house, they embark on a magical-realist journey from her home in New Jersey to ancient Rome, from fashion to physics, in search of what life remains in the objects we leave behind.
8.0For more than thirty years, and through his television program, Fred Rogers (1928-2003), host, producer, writer and pianist, accompanied by his puppets and his many friends, spoke directly to young children about some of life's most important issues.
6.6At a pivotal moment for gender equality in Hollywood, successful women directors talk about their art, lives and careers.
7.3Girl next door, activist, so-called traitor, fitness tycoon, Oscar winner: Jane Fonda has lived a life of controversy, tragedy and transformation – and she’s done it all in the public eye. An intimate look at one woman’s singular journey.
6.8The story of Miguel Moreira and Ruben Furtado, two Cape Verdean immigrant descendants who live in Portugal but have no legal documents. They are torn between the desire to be a full Portuguese citizen and the obstacles they find in their day to day. Proud of being who they are they keep on dreaming of their future reflecting their wishes for a better life. Above all, Michael and Ruben lead us to one question: What kind of identity has a stateless person?
Mary of Nazarene is one of the most popular female figures of our world's history. When feminist filmmaker and non-believer Nouchka van Brakel saw a painting of Mary, on which she was told that she would give birth to the Messiah, she was struck by Mary's rather reserved expression. Instead of happiness or humble devotion, the look on her face was doubtful. This fascinated Nouchka van Brakel, and led her to make AVE MARIA, a documentary on the one hand about this mythical, particularly beloved woman and on the other hand about her worshippers who make her Queen of Heaven. AVE MARIA portrays the untameable longing of mankind for the Mother of all mothers; from Virgin Mary, to Mother of the Son of God, to Lady of All Nations, to Queen of Heaven. What powerful emotions drive those devoted to Mary? Journeys to Turkey, Poland, Spain and The Netherlands gradually reveal the mystery.... A fascinating quest.
0.0How to reinvent democracy by the eyes of two Portuguese activists.
0.0We encounter the controversial Croatian film director Lordan Zafranovic in voluntary exile in Prague. The film follows his rise from a talented outsider to the celebrated Yugoslav director of the acclaimed war film, 'An Occupation in 26 Pictures'. His life story is an unconventional depiction of a rise and fall that reveals compromises made in order to survive artistically during communism, as well as the missed opportunities and miscalculations that led to his inability to adapt in later years. Is the charismatic Zafranovic a national traitor or a victim of historical circumstances in which the only thing he wanted to do, in his own words, was to be himself and make films?
5.4"EDGEPLAY: A film about The Runaways" chronicles the rise and disintegration of the seminal '70's all-teenage-girl rock band The Runaways, whose members included then-unknown future rock stars Lita Ford and Joan Jett. The film explores the effects of verbal, emotional and psychological abuse on girls too young to drink, but old enough for sex, drugs and rock n' roll. Written by Sacred Dogs Entertainment
7.2A brief look into Romany culture and Rom (Gypsies) from around the globe as five famous Romany groups tour the USA.
5.0An account, in his own words and those of his relatives, of the life and work of the brilliant Manuel Pérez-Sanjulián Clemente, one of the most important Spanish illustrators of all times.