Film Collection

FILM COLLECTION

The film collection of the CC German Department was begun in the early 1980s by Professor Armin Wishard and now contains a total of almost 1000 titles. Most of the collection (about 700 films) is housed in the Max Kade House and is recorded on the European PAL system without subtitles. The other tapes are kept in Tutt Library and are generally on the American NTSC system with subtitles.

The collection is extremely diverse, containing documentaries, feature films, television series, operas, enactments of great literature, recordings of stage productions, rare films, a significant number of films from the Nazi and the GDR era, as well as the most recent films. All the silent classics by Pabst, Murnau, and Lang are available, including the complete collections of German television programs such as 'Berlin Alexanderplatz' and 'Heimat.' Gay, lesbian, and women filmmakers are also well represented, including most works by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Doris Dörrie.

Every fall, Professor Heinz Geppert organizes a series of film screenings with a common theme. In the past few years, Heinz has presented a series on German films from the 50s (Heimatland), an overview of the work of Fassbinder and Sirk, and a series on New Queer German Cinema. During the '98-'99 school year, the title of Heinz's series was 'Wien: Stadt meiner Träume' (Vienna: City of my Dreams). The summer offers a program entitled "European Literature and Film, " taught by Professors Geppert and Wishard.

None of these films would be very useful without a good venue for screenings, though! The German Department maintains two fantastic spaces on campus to watch movies: the Max Kade Theater and the Garden House. The Max Kade Theater is an 96-seat theater in Armstrong Hall with a state-of-the-art video projection system, comfortable seats, and theatrical lighting for play productions. Normally, this theater is used for the fall film series.

The German Garden House, fifty feet behind the main German House, is a space ideal for watching movies in small groups. With comfortable couches, an adjoining kitchen, and world-wide satellite television, the Garden House is as cozy as it is technologically advanced. Both the Max Kade Theater and the Garden House have equipment to play videotapes from anywhere in the world.

If you have questions about the film collection, please click here to send Heinz an email. To access the online database of the film collection (including descriptions of each film), click on the link below.

ACCESS THE FILM COLLECTION ON-LINE DATABASE