MODERNITY AND TRADITION: FILM IN INTERWAR CENTRAL EUROPE

A film program offered in association with the exhibition Foto: Modernity in Central Europe, 1918–1945

Modernity and Tradition: Film in Interwar Central Europe explores the unique cinematic language that developed from a complex conjunction of innovation and cultural tradition in interwar central Europe. The program offers a thematic presentation of the region’s diverse film production, from The Popular to Avant-garde Shorts, from urban environments (captured in City Films) to the countryside (expressed in the theme Homeland, Homeland: My Country), and from the social engagement of The Most Important Art to the otherworldly universes of Celluloid Myths and Celluloid Dreams. Screenings are held in either Lubar Auditorium at the Museum or the Union Cinema at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Seating is on a first-come basis.

The series includes original 35 mm prints from the collections of the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv; the Deutsche Kinemathek; the Hungarian National Film Archive; Kino International; the Library of Congress Motion Picture Division; the Murnau Stiftung; the National Center for Jewish Film; the National Film Archive, Prague; and the National Film Archive, Warsaw.

Film program is organized by Sonja Simonyi, Department of Film Programs at the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

FILM SCHEDULE

“City Films” Program One
Feb. 20, 7:00pm | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Union Theatre

Prague at Night (Praha v září světel) by Svatopluk Innemann
1928, 35 mm, silent, 24 minutes, Czechoslovakia

Aimless Walk (Bezúčelná procházka) by Alexandr Hackenschmied
1930, 35 mm, silent, 10 minutes, Czechoslovakia

Urban Gypsies (Großstadt Zigeuner) by László Moholy-Nagy
1932, 35 mm, silent, 11 minutes, Germany

Living in Prague (Žijeme v Praze) by Otakar Vávra
1934, 35 mm, Czech, 13 minutes, Czechoslovakia

Budapest, City of Baths (Budapest fürdőváros) by István Somkúti
1935, 35 mm, silent with music track, 14 minutes, Hungary

Jewish Life in Kraków by Shaul and Yitzhak Goskind
1939, 16 mm, Yiddish with subtitles, 10 minutes, Poland

Jewish Life in Lwów by Shaul and Yitzhak Goskind
1939, 16 mm, Yiddish with subtitles, 11 minutes, Poland

A Day in Warsaw by Shaul and Yitzhak Goskind
1938, 16 mm, Yiddish with subtitles, 10 minutes, Poland

“City Films” Program Two
Feb 23, 1:00pm | Milwaukee Art Museum Lubar Auditorium

Berlin: Symphony of a Big City (Berlin: Die Sinfonie einer Großstadt) by Walter Ruttmann
1927, DVD, silent, 72 minutes, Germany

“Homeland, Homeland: My Country” Program One
Feb. 27, 7:00pm | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Union Theatre

Kuyaviak (Kujawiak) (from Polish Dance Series) by Eugeniusz Cękalski
1935, 35 mm, English, 7 minutes, Poland

Faithless Marijka (Marijka nevěrnice) by Vladislav Vančura
1934, 35 mm, Ruthenian, Slovak, Yiddish and Czech with subtitles, 76 minutes, Czechoslovakia

The Song of Ruthenia (Píseň o Podkarpatské Rusi) by Jiří Weiss
1937, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, 11 minutes, Czechoslovakia

“Homeland, Homeland: My Country” Program Two
Mar. 1, 1:00pm | Milwaukee Art Museum Lubar Auditorium

The Blue Light (Das blaue Licht) by Leni Riefenstahl
1932, DVD, German, 79 minutes, Germany

“Homeland, Homeland: My Country” Program Three
Mar. 5, 7:00pm | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Union Theatre

Hungarian Village (A magyar falu) by László Kandó
1935, 35 mm, Hungarian with English intertitles, 15 minutes, Hungary

Hortobágy by Georg Höllering
1936, 35 mm, Hungarian with subtitles, 82 minutes, Hungary

“Homeland, Homeland: My Country” Program Four
Mar. 8, 1:00pm | Milwaukee Art Museum Lubar Auditorium

The Singing Earth (Zem spieva) by Karel Plicka
1933, DVD, silent with music track, Czech and English intertitles, 80 minutes, Czechoslovakia

“Celluloid Myths and Celluloid Dreams” Program One
Mar. 9, 2:00pm | Milwaukee Art Museum Lubar Auditorium

The Dybbuk (Der Dibuk) by Michał Waszyński
1937, DVD, Yiddish with subtitles, 123 minutes, Poland

Followed by a discussion led by Jody Hirsh, Jewish Community Center, and Lisa Hostetler.

“The Most Important Art” Program One
Mar. 15, 1:00pm | Milwaukee Art Museum Lubar Auditorium

Mother Krause’s Journey to Happiness (Mutter Krausens Fahrt ins Glück) by Piel Jutzi
1929, DVD, silent, German intertitles with translation, 116 minutes, Germany

“The Popular” Program One
Mar. 22, 1:00pm | Milwaukee Art Museum Lubar Auditorium

The Last Laugh (Der letzte Mann) by F. W. Murnau
1924, DVD, silent with English intertitles, 90 minutes, Germany

Special Program
“Avant-garde Shorts” and “Homeland, Homeland:
My Country” Program Five
Apr. 2, 7:00pm | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Union Theatre

7:00pm Ghosts before Breakfast (Vormittagsspuk) by Hans Richter
1927/1928, 16 mm, silent, 6 minutes, Germany

Boots (Buty) by Jerzy Gabrielsky
1934, 35 mm, Polish with subtitles, 12 minutes, Poland

There Is a Ball Tonight (Dziś mamy bal) by Jerzy Zarzycki and Tadeusz Kowalski
1934, 35 mm, silent with music track and subtitles, 7 minutes, Poland

The Adventure of a Good Citizen (Przygoda człowieka poczciwego) by Stefan and Franciszka Themerson
1937, 35 mm, Polish with subtitles, 8 minutes, Poland

At the Prague Castle (Na Pražském hradĕ) by Alexandr Hackenschmied
1931, 35 mm, silent with music track, 11 minutes, Czechoslovakia

The Highway Sings (Silnice zpívá) by Elmar Klos
1937, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, 4 minutes, Czechoslovakia

8:00pm Lecture by Sonja Simonyi

9:00pm Spring Shower (Tavaszi zápor) by Pál Fejős
1932, 35 mm, Hungarian with subtitles, 66 minutes, Hungary

Opening night of the symposium
“Picturing the Modern: Photography, Film, and Society in Central Europe, 1918-1945”
Apr. 3 | Milwaukee Art Museum Lubar Auditorium

5:15pm “Antifascism, Photomontage and the Image of Nazism”
Anson Rabinbach, Keynote Speaker (History Department Princeton University)

6:15pm Reception sponsored by the Photography Council

7:00pm The Blue Angel (Der blaue Engel) by Josef von Sternberg
1930, DVD, German with subtitles, 106 minutes, Germany

“The Most Important Art” Program Two
Apr. 16, 7:00pm | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Union Theatre

In the Shadow of the Machine (Im Schatten der Maschine) by Albrecht Viktor Blum
1928, 35 mm, silent, German intertitles with translation, 20 minutes, Germany

Children Must Laugh (Mir Kumen On) by Aleksander Ford
1935, 16 mm, English narration and Yiddish spoken with subtitles, 56 minutes, Poland

“Celluloid Myths and Celluloid Dreams” Program Two
Apr. 23, 7:00pm | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Union Theatre

Waxworks (Das Wachsfigurenkabinett) by Paul Leni
1924, 16 mm, silent, English intertitles, 70 minutes, Germany)

The Magic Eye (Divotvorné oko) by Jiří Lehovec
1939, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, 10 minutes, Czechoslovakia

“The Popular” Program Three
Apr. 30, 7:00pm | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Union Theatre

Address Unknown (Címzett ismeretlen) by Béla Gaál
1935, 35 mm, Hungarian with subtitles, 83 minutes, Hungary

“The Popular” Program Four
May 7, 7:00pm | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Union Theatre

Heave Ho! (Hej rup!) by Martin Frič (Jiří Voskovec/Jan Werich)
1934, 35 mm, Czech with subtitles, 99 minutes, Czechoslovakia