As part of the Year of German-American Friendship, Goethe Pop Up Kansas City has been bringing German cinema to the Crossroads with their Pop Up Film Haus events – screenings of both contemporary and historically relevant films shown in German with English subtitles. Now, in partnership with local cinema Stray Cat Film Center, they’ve put together the Film Haus’ first dedicated series with What’s left? Films from former East Germany.
This series, featuring six films and spanning nearly four decades of filmmaking, will examine daily life in former East Germany. Hosted and curated by Dr. Larson Powell, film scholar and Professor of Film Studies at UMKC, What’s left? features films from the former GDR as well as recent films about its history that showcase characters experiencing everyday struggles with gritty realism, ironic understatement and comical stories.
Kicking off on Mar 20th with a screening of Konrad Wolf’s Solo Sunny, the series will run through June with screenings held every other Wednesday evening at Stray Cat Film Center. Dr. Powell will introduce each film and lead discussions afterward concerning the film’s content and contexts, its relation to film history, and its artistic form and style. Continuing with the Pop Up Film Haus’ goal of bringing these films to the largest audience possible, each screening is open to the public and admission is free.
If you’re interested in international cultural exchange, What’s Left? isn’t the only item on the Pop Up’s event schedule this spring. Along with partner Blue Room Jazz Club, the Goethe Pop Up is bringing two jazz bands to Kansas City in April and May with visits from The Chicago Plan (featuring musicians from Chicago, New York, and Berlin) on Apr 26th, followed by Berlin based jazz trio Der lange Schatten on May 20th. The Pop Up will also welcome visiting author Pierre Jarawan from Germany to read from his debut novel The Storyteller at their space on Apr 30th. In addition to these events, they’ll continue hosting their Pop Up Library at the space through November, along with their German Conversation Group and Kinder Group.
See their full event schedule and sign up for their monthly newsletter by visiting goethe.de/kansascity. You can also follow them on Facebook and Instagram at @goethepopupkc.
Visit their space at 1914 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64108. Tuesday through Saturday, 12pm-6pm and First Fridays, 6pm-9pm.
