cinefest 2019
16th International Festival of German Film-Heritage
Hamburg: 16 - 24 November 2019

organized by CineGraph and Bundesarchiv

Dr. Strangelove Or Happiness from the Clouds
Film Between Political Comedy and Social Satire

cinefest 2019 is an exploration into the diversity of this critical and entertaining genre, looking into freedoms and limitations created by a mixture of comedy and criticism. Is satire limited to political themes or does it also give us a chance to laugh at the absurd state of society? Does satire always work against a system or could it also be utilized as a form of propaganda?
Discussions will be based on classics such as Schünzel’s play on authority in AMPHITRYON. AUS DEN WOLKEN KOMMT DAS GLÜCK (1935), Lubitsch’s anti-Nazi satire TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1941/42), WIR KELLERKINDER (1960) with comedian Wolfgang Neuss, Wilder’s ONE, TWO, THREE (1961) and Kubrick’s DR. STRANGELOVE (1962) from the height of the cold-war era.
Uniforms and Rulers are repeatedly the target of satire in films such as DER HAUPTMANN VON KÖPENICK (1931 / 1956) and THE DEATH OF STALIN (2017). Often, media has placed itself in the focus: in Lumet’s NETWORK (1976), Scorsese’s KING OF COMEDY (1981/82) or the affair of the Hitler diaries in SCHTONK! (1991/92).
In East Germany the STACHELTIER short films polemicized against NATO and West Germany, while also using satire to offer a (gentle) criticism of internal shortcomings.
cinefest will also look onto Czech cinema and its expression of satirical criticism, ranging from Jaroslav Hašek’s Good Soldier Schwejk to Vera Chytilová’s exuberant rebellion against authority in SEDMIKRÁSKY (1966).

The 32nd International Film History Conference is integrated in the festival in Hamburg.

In preparation for the festival and conference there will be an internal screening 9 – 12 May 2019 in Berlin. For more information please contact kongress(at)cinegraph.de.

A select portion of the film program will also be screened in Berlin, Prague, Wiesbaden and other cities.

CineGraph - Hamburgisches Centrum für Filmforschung e.V.
Schillerstr. 43, 22767 Hamburg
Tel: +49-(0)40-352194 / Fax: +49-(0)40-345864
email: info(at)cinefest.de

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in Cooperation with
Kinemathek Hamburg - Kommunales Kino Metropolis
Deutsches Historisches Museum / Zeughauskino, Berlin
Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, Wiesbaden
Narodní filmový archiv, Prag
FilmForum Udine/Gorizia
Cinémathèque Suisse Lausanne / Filmpodium Zürich
Abaton Kino, Hamburg
Alabama Kino, Hamburg
Lichtmess Kino, Hamburg


with frienldy support from
Arte, Straßburg
Bücherhallen Hamburg
DEFA-Stiftung, Berlin
Deutsch-Tschechischer Zukunftsfonds, Prague
Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Berlin
DFF - Deutsches Filminstitu & Filmmuseum, Frankfurt/Main
Due Baristi Espressobar, Hamburg
Elbler GmbH, Hamburg
Filmarchiv Austria, Vienna
Gästehaus der Universität, Hamburg
Hotel Alster-Hof, Hamburg
Italienisches Kulturinstitut, Hamburg
Österreichisches Filmmuseum, Wien
Slovenský Filmový ùstav, Bratislava
UCM.ONE GmbH, Berlin
Universität Hamburg – Institut für Medien und Kommunikation
VG Bildkunst, Bonn
Wildwuchs Brauwerk Hamburg


CineGraph – Hamburgisches Centrum für Filmforschung e.V. is funded by the Hamburg Ministry of Culture.

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After the event in Hamburg, parts of the film programme will also be shown in Berlin, Wiesbaden, Prague, Vienna and Zurich.

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