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Amiri Baraka

Actor
Amiri Baraka, originally named Everett LeRoi Jones, was not primarily an actor or director, but a renowned playwright, poet, and political activist. Born on October 7, 1934, in Newark, New Jersey, Baraka's work often reflected his advocacy for Black rights and socio-political change. He first gained prominence with his 1964 play "Dutchman," which won an Obie Award for Best American Play. Another notable work includes "The Slave," also from 1964. While his plays were confrontational and aimed at addressing racial injustices, Baraka's influence extended beyond theater to poetry and music criticism. He was a key figure in the Black Arts Movement, which he helped initiate in the 1960s. His social and political activism, combined with his literary contributions, cemented his legacy as a transformative figure in American literature and culture. Amiri Baraka received the Langston Hughes Award in 1989, among other honors, recognizing his impact on arts and literature.

Films

William S. Burroughs – A Man Within

William S. Burroughs – A Man Within

By Yony Leyser

2011 | 87 min | Biography

William S. Burroughs: cult figure, novelist and pioneer of the underground cultures. In the docu his closest friends: Laurie Anderson, David Cronenberg, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, etc. "WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS - A MAN WITHIN is a kind of genealogy of hip that connects Burroughs..., with many currents of America’s outlaw cultural tradition. He was a close friend and sometime lover of Allen Ginsberg, with whom he is shown in conversation — and an idol of punk rockers like the Clash, the Dead Kennedys, Iggy ...

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Berlin Utopiekadaver

Berlin Utopiekadaver

2024 | 92 min | Documentary

A “wave of evictions” is sweeping Berlin. The last left-wing autonomous housing projects are to be dissolved and their residents forced to leave the city. The film shows different generations of a subculture talking about themselves, fighting for their existence, but also dancing and crying together. A taxi driver drives through the city of Berlin and talks about the changes and the boom in the real estate market. He himself is a punk, left-wing, and a well-known figure in the autonomous scene. ...

Under the Underground

Under the Underground

2019 | 54 min | Documentary

Voodoo Jürgens and Bands such as Petra und der Wolf and Tankris practice and perform in the underground cellar vault Janka Industries in Vienna, in the midst of a bizarre hodge-podge of electronic scrap. A music film and an ultimate underground homage that cinematically captures the magic of the site.

The Life of Sean DeLear

The Life of Sean DeLear

2024 | 82 min | Biography

A black boy growing up in the conservative suburbs of Simi Valley discovers early on that he is different. In search of freedom and identity, he flees to Los Angeles, where he immerses himself in the vibrant underground culture of the 1980s. The nights are wild, the art scene is revolutionary, and the dream of a career as an artist propels him forward. Friendships with scene greats such as John Sex, Ann Magnuson and Keith Haring shape him just as much as the music that eventually leads him to the ...

Bruno & Bettina

Bruno & Bettina

2018 | 101 min | Documentary

In the 1970s, the radical left was in turmoil worldwide, and the boundaries between art and political activism were blurring. In 1974, the Japanese screenwriter and director Masao Adachi, known for his experimental and provocative works, made a radical turn and joined the “Japanese Red Army” (JRA) founded by Fusako Shigenobu in Lebanon. This extremist group fights for global revolution alongside the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Lutz Dammbeck's documentary film BRUNO & BETTINA ...

Engel über Europa - Rilke als Gottsucher

Engel über Europa - Rilke als Gottsucher

2018 | 82 min | Biography

Throughout his life, Rilke looked to the spiritual and mythological traditions of the world for inspiration in his own search for God. Discouraged by his mother's dogmatic Catholicism, Rilke turned to esotericism and anthroposophy at an early age. In turn-of-the-century Munich, he lived in close proximity to people seeking to understand life, such as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Rudolf Steiner, all of whom were on the search for an alternative to Christian forms of belief. His travels through ...

Bulgaria Of All Places

Bulgaria Of All Places

2007 | 94 min | Biography

BULGARIA OF ALL PLACES by Christo Bakalski portrays the family history of German writer Angelika Schrobsdorff, who fled Berlin for Bulgaria in 1939. The family story closely follows the dramas of the 20th century: the dictatorships and the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and conflicts in the Middle East. This documentary chronicles the escape of writer Angelika Schrobsdorff's family from Berlin and Nazi Germany to Bulgaria in 1939. The dictatorships, the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin ...

The Dreamed Ones

The Dreamed Ones

2016 | 89 min | Documentary

The correspondence between Ingeborg Bachmann and Paul Celan forms the basis of the text. The story begins in Vienna in 1948, when she is 22 and he 27, and ends with Celan's suicide in 1971 in Paris. Two young actors, Anja Plaschg and Laurence Rupp, meet in a recording studio to read from their correspondence. The dramatically fluctuating feelings of the letters - between intoxication and fear of loss, delight and horror, closeness and strangeness - are passed on to the actors.

A Girl Named Yssabeau

A Girl Named Yssabeau

2011 | 18 min | Shorts

The film is based on a by ballad of François Villon and inspired the Deer Dance of the Yaqui and Mayo native Mexican people. A distant, unknown land. A young deer-woman, Yssabeau goes deeper and deeper into the mysterious land, where different rules and customs apply. What are these beings that Yssabeau encounters? Famous places of Hamburg, like the “Oberhafenkantine” and “Prinzenbar” are seen in a new light, transporting the audience to a surreal place. The exquisite images are influenced by Rococo ...

Gottes zerstreute Funken - Jüdische Mystik bei Paul Celan

Gottes zerstreute Funken - Jüdische Mystik bei Paul Celan

2016 | 67 min | Biography

The film highlights decisive stations and influences in the poet's life. Among them Celan's trip to Israel, where he visited the grave of Jewish mystic Isaac Luria (1534-1572) in Safed, whose spiritual worldview had a lasting influence on Celan. Luria postulated that God withdrew from the world after creation. But also the few remaining rays of light were still too powerful, so that the first forms of being broke. These sparks or shards are to be recognized and found by the mystic. "Rüdiger Sünner ...

Teststand 7

Teststand 7

2001 | 110 min | Music, Dance, Theater

On October 3, 1942, the V2 was the first rocket in the history of technology to fly into space from Peenemünde. After the end of the war, its designer Wernher von Braun rose to a leading position in NASA's space programs - despite his involvement in the Nazi regime. Test Stand 7 is a character study of the rocket, which is called Bianca here. In search of her origins, Bianca travels from Peenemünde across Germany. For Test Bed 7, the American writer Thomas Pynchon allowed the filming of excerpts ...