East Germany, 1980: A doctor is exiled to a country hospital as punishment for applying for an exit visa. As her lover from the West carefully plots her escape, Barbara (Nina Hoss) waits patiently and avoids friendships. She works as a pediatric surgeon under her new boss André, and while she is caring toward her patients—a young girl in particular—Barbara keeps a distance from her colleagues. She is constantly monitored by the state’s security apparatus and is the subject of repeated humiliations. Barbara looks forward to her future and to her freedom, but André and a traumatized young patient slowly chip away at her defenses, and she starts to lose control. A subtle and precise look at the complex personal costs of life in a paranoid and repressive state. (105 mins.)

Steven Fuller, Ph.D., Portland State University will introduce the film.

Winner of the Best Director Award at the Berlin Film Festival and recipient of seven German Film Award nominations.

Mark Twain’s timeless adventure tale of two boys, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, in conflict with the adult world is given a faithful, refreshing revitalization. Filmed in Germany and Romania, young actors Louis Hofmann and Leon Seidel put a delightful spin on this distinctively German vision of a classic American story. “Outstanding cast, funny and dynamic.”—Cinema (110 mins.)

Nominated for a German Film Award for Best Children’s Film.

Recommended for ages 10 and up.

What would you do if you had the chance to relive part of your life? That is the premise of this intriguing mystery drama starring Nina Hoss as a woman who experiences something very unusual. While traveling with her partner in Finland, Juliane awakens one morning to find herself back in Berlin. She has traveled back six months in time and experiences again the events leading up to a tragic situation and a major change in her life. A film that keeps you guessing as it twists and turns to a startling conclusion. (96 mins.)

Blake Peters, Head of the German American School, will introduce the film.

Join us for a reception in the Portland Art Museum’s sculpture courtyard from 7:30–8:45 p.m., hosted by Zeitgeist Northwest.

In 1874, a very traditional German school decides to employ a new teacher of English in order to ensure that some fresh ideas about culture and life are imparted to the students. The teacher, played by renowned actor Daniel Brühl, turns out to be more radical than envisioned by the principal (played by Burghart Klaussner), as he teaches English culture by getting them all to play football. In turn, despite the excitement experienced by the students, the parents and local community are not so impressed. Reminiscent of the film DEAD POETS SOCIETY, this stirring historical drama about the impact a teacher can have on students is a compelling story with some notable messages about tradition and change. (113 mins.)

Laura McLary, Ph.D., University of Portland will introduce the film.

Nominated for three German Film Awards.

Recommended for ages 10 and up.

This charming, funny, and visually resplendent romantic comedy by one of Germany’s most inventive young directors uses as its guiding principle an old Kazakh proverb that says: “Whatever falls from heaven, you may keep.” For the inhabitants of a small Kazakh village, especially the youthful Iskander, living just downwind from the Baikonur Cosmodrome means that what “falls from heaven” is actually valuable space debris from the Russian rockets launched there. Nicknamed “Gagarin” after the Soviet space pioneer, Iskander uses his radio expertise to follow launches and calculate where to find the cast-off space metals that provide his village with its livelihood. After seeing a photo of the young Frenchwoman Julie, due to become the latest space tourist, he is smitten. When something goes wrong and Julie plunges to earth in a capsule, Iskander is there to rescue her before the authorities do. And she has amnesia ... (95 mins.)

Sandra Freels, Ph.D., Portland State University Director of World Languages and Literatures, will introduce the film.

In Russian, French, and English.

Grumpy taxi driver Hartmut Mackowiak is crushed by the news that his wife of 30 years is leaving him. He is forced to reorganize his life, becoming even more of a loner. That is, until the day he has the six-year-old Hayat and her mother as passengers in his taxi. This is the beginning of a series of events that leave him looking after Hayat, who, unable to speak any German, is now looking for her mother who has apparently disappeared. Inevitably, Hartmut initially resists helping her, but Hayat’s stubbornness leaves him no alternative but to assist in her search. Little does he realize that perhaps he is on the way to learning to love life. An endearing, feel-good comedy-drama, THREE QUARTER MOON proves, without moralizing or sentimentality, that change is possible no matter what phase of life one is in. (91 mins.)

Alexandra Hill, Ph.D., University of Portland will introduce the film.

A disturbing but powerful story set amidst a rising tide of hate seducing today’s disaffected German youth, COMBAT GIRLS offers a nightmarish depiction of Neo-Nazism from a uniquely female perspective. Set in a small East German town, the film centers on 20-year-old Marisa, a skinhead who blames others for her country’s decline. Estranged from her family, she feels at home only in the fanatical world of her boyfriend and fellow Neo-Nazis. Just as new teenage recruit Svenja begins her initiation into the gang, Marisa’s revelatory encounter with a young Afghan refugee softens her ideological convictions, until a cycle of violence and anti-Semitism culminates with devastating consequences. Lead actresses Alina Levshin and Jella Haase deliver unflinching performances that infuse the story with riveting urgency. (103 mins.)

Daniel Pearson, Portland State University will introduce the film.

Mature audiences.