Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures University of Toronto
University of Toronto
Media Commons Theatre, 3rd Floor Robarts Library,
130 St. George St.
Employing the realist aesthetics associated with the ‘Berlin School,’ this German director explores wome and girls at the social margins. Post-screening discussions facilitated by Professor Angelica Fenner, with Maria Speth in attendance for the closing film DAUGHTERS (Töchter). Free and open to the public.
April 8, 6:30pm: THE DAYS BETWEEN (In den Tag hinein, 2001, 118 min.)
Lynn, 22, lives with her family in Berlin. Lacking a precise aim in life, her direct manner nonetheless triggers unusual encounters at her cafeteria job and in the city. Her boyfriend, David is her opposite: a disciplined competitive swimmer with no room for complications. When Lynn meets a Japanese exchange student, even simple interactions gain in importance.
April 15, 6:30pm: MADONNAS (Madonnen, 2007, 125 min.)
Rita claims her mother was never a proper role model. Giving birth to her own six children by different fathers, Rita pressures her mother to extend to these grandchildren the care Rita claims she herself never received. After fleeing to Belgium for petty theft and spending time in jail, she tries for a normal life with a US soldier, all the while on the verge of returning to itinerancy.
April 17, 3:00pm: NINE LIVES (9 Leben, 2011, 105 min.)
A documentary portrait of 7 homeless youth, some as young as 11 or 12, who chose the streets over a troubled home life. Both their testimonials as well as moments of withholding reveal an extraordinary talent and will to persevere in the face of a traumatic past and precarious future.
April 22, 6:30pm: DAUGHTERS (Töchter, 2015, 92 min.)
Agnes comes to Berlin to identify a dead girl whom the police think could be Agnes’ fifteen-year old daughter, who ran away from home. But it is not. Agnes nevertheless remains in Berlin, driven by the hopes of finding her daughter, and in the process, meets Ines, a cunning social parasite.
Maria SPETH in attendance. Post-screening discussion facilitated by Jutta BRENDEMÜHL (Goethe-Institut Toronto) and Prof. Angelica FENNER (University of Toronto).
April 23, 1:00-3:00pm: WORKSHOP with Maria SPETH
Room 312, Innis College, 2 Sussex Avenue
Faculty/Students welcome. Please register with the Cinema Studies Institute at gradcinema.studies@utoronto.ca
Sponsored by
Goethe-Institut Toronto
Waterloo Center for German Studies
If you have any accommodation needs, please e-mail german@chass.utoronto.ca, and we will do our best to assist you.