UMass Amherst DEFA Film Library Presents “Art and Power: The Films of Lutz Dammbeck”

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AMHERST, Mass. – The DEFA Film Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is hosting East German filmmaker and media artist Lutz Dammbeck, Sept. 19-24. His visit is part of an eight-city touring retrospective, “Art & Power: The films of Lutz Dammbeck.”

Dammbeck is one of Germany’s most innovative contemporary artists, whose work blends film and art in bold and unexpected ways. Throughout his career, he has addressed a cluster of intriguing issues in his art: The relationship between art and power; the artist’s role in society; art in relation to political networks and movements; and the role and influence of new technologies. His groundbreaking media collages, animated and experimental films and documentaries are seen as crucial contributions to East German film and art history.

Three local screenings are scheduled for the Massachusetts premieres of Dammbeck’s most recent film and two of his award-winning documentaries. All screenings are free and open to the public, and will be followed by discussions with Dammbeck.

“The Net,” a documentary on the role of information technology on human society, will be shown at a special screening at Amherst Cinema on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.

UMass Amherst will host two screenings of Dammbeck’s works on campus. His new film “Bruno & Bettina,” which presents an interview with Masao Adachi—a Japanese avant-garde film director and former member of the Japanese Red Army—on post-WWII Japan, art, revolution and terrorism, will be screened Monday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. in ILC S-331. “Time of the Gods,” which explores how German sculptor Arno Breker became Adolf Hitler’s protégé, although the Nazis first considered his work to be “degenerate art,” will be screened Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. in ILC S-240.

This event is sponsored by the DEFA Film Library at UMass Amherst with the support of the DEFA Foundation and the program Wunderbar Together: Germany and the U.S.

After the event, the DEFA Film Library will make Dammbeck’s complete film catalog available in North America via rental, streaming and DVD. More information is available at www.umass.edu/defa.