ALEXANDER KLUGE IN NEW YORK
New York, NY (October 5, 2016)—The Goethe-Institut is pleased to announce a weekend of events with German writer, theorist, filmmaker, and television pioneer Alexander Kluge, including a soiree with literature, film, and music at the Goethe-Institut and selected film screenings at Anthology Film Archives (AFA).
One of the undisputed intellectual giants of postwar Germany, Alexander Kluge has been producing genre- and medium-defying work for almost six decades. Yet, in the US, he remains narrowly associated with the 1962 Oberhausen Manifesto calling for a “new German film” and with his acclaimed early feature films. This month’s events at the Goethe-Institut and AFA honor Kluge’s interdisciplinary oeuvre in its varied expressions, providing the best chance to date for New York audiences to engage with a broad dimension of his rich and uncompromising career.
On October 21 and 22 AFA revisits some of Alexander Kluge’s famed feature films of the 1960s-80s while also providing a rare opportunity to dip into the vast body of work that he has created over the past 30 years for German television. Radically unlike conventional late-night programming, these variations on the documentary and essay film format represent a bold and fascinating attempt to find new, more collaborative, and widely accessible ways to communicate through moving-image media. The 3:00, 5:30, and 8:45pm screenings at AFA on October 22 include Q&A sessions with Mr. Kluge.
On October 23, 5:30pmAlexander Kluge and Brooklyn-based author Ben Lerner meet for a soiree at the Goethe-Institut, where they will talk about Kluge’s latest book The Great Hour of Kong (Kongs große Stunde, Suhrkamp, 2015), as well as a selection of new writings prompted by Lerner’s poetry. A short film program and live piano music, including Jacques Offenbach’s Bataclan and Giuseppe Verdi’s Attila, promise an unforgettable meander through Kluge’s creativity and inspiration. This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP at program[at]newyork.goethe.org if you would like to attend.
These events are presented in collaboration with dctp.tv, the production company for television founded by Alexander Kluge in 1987.
An evening of film and conversation with Alexander Kluge closes the weekend’s program on October 24, 7:00pm at The Museum of Modern Art, as part of the ongoing Modern Mondays series.
1) ALEXANDER KLUGE IN NEW YORK
2) ALEXANDER KLUGE ON FILM AND VIDEO (Anthology Film Archives)
3) ALEXANDER KLUGE & BEN LERNER (Goethe-Institut)
4) AN EVENING WITH ALEXANDER KLUGE (Museum of Modern Art)
