The Goethe-Institut Boston and the DEFA Film Library co-present a four-part event series, “Happy Birthday! The DEFA Film Library Turns 30,” bringing together current and former members of the DEFA Film Library team to present and discuss lesser-known DEFA gems that are ripe for (re)discovery.  

Associate Director Victoria Rizo Lenshyn will open the series with “1977’s The Flight” (dir. Roland Gräf) at the Goethe-Institut in Boston on April 12.  

Image

“I am so thrilled to kick off the DEFA Film Library’s anniversary events, and this series in collaboration with our long-time partner, the Goethe-Institut Boston,” Lenshyn says. “Over the last three decades, the international network of Goethe-Institutes has helped us distribute our films to audiences worldwide.”  

The series, which showcases films from the DEFA Film Library holdings, continues with a film introduction and discussion by academic director Mariana Ivanova on May 17 (“The Airship,” 1982, dir. Rainer Simon), followed by a presentation from former executive director Skyler Arndt-Briggs on September 13 (“The Dove on the Roof,” 1973/2010, dir. Iris Gusner). The series concludes with a presentation of “Wozzeck” (1947, dir. Georg C. Klaren) by Jason Doerre, former DEFA program assistant who is now an assistant professor at Trinity College, on October 18. 

This series at the Goethe-Institut Boston is one of many events that will commemorate this year’s 30th anniversary of the film library — the first and only archive and research center devoted to East German film culture outside Germany.  

UMass Amherst community members can watch these films for free on the university library’s Kanopy subscription with campus login credentials.