FASSBINDER RETROSPECTIVE OPENS WITH AN HISTORIC EVENING OF TRIBUTES AND PERFORMANCES AND THE WORLD PREMIERE OF A RARE DOCUMENTARY
Readings, Songs, and Testimonials by
Several of Fassbinder's Closest Collaborators, Hosted by Udo
Kier
Special Screening of Florian Hopf's 1977 Documentary Showing
Fassbinder as an Actor and on the Sets of His Films
A Celebration of
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Thursday, January 23,
1997
The first complete retrospective in the United
States of the film and television works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder opens
Thursday, January 23, at The Museum of Modern Art with a historic evening
of live tributes and performances by several of Fassbinder's closest
collaborators and the world premiere of the rare 1977 documentary Rainer
Werner Fassbinder.
Guests for A Celebration of Rainer Werner
Fassbinder include Hanna Schygulla, who first met Fassbinder in acting
school and who, in eighteen films, embodied some of his most memorable
characters–
among them Effi Briest, Maria Braun, and Lili Marleen; Margit
Carstensen, the lead in the two lacerating films The Bitter Tears of
Petra von Kant (1972) and Martha (1973), and a cast member in
numerous other films; Irm Herrman, the third player, with Carstensen and
Schygulla, in the painful love triangle of The Bitter Tears of
Petra von Kant and a key actress in Katzelmacher (1969) and
The Merchant of Four Seasons (1971); Barbara Sukowa, the lead in
Lola (1981) and a principal in Berlin Alexanderplatz
(1979/80); and Rosel Zech, who played Veronika Voss in the eponymous 1982
film.
The master of ceremonies for the evening will be Udo Kier, who is
best remembered for his roles in Fassbinder's The Stationmaster's
Wife, The Third Generation (1978/79), and Lili Marleen
(1980), among other films, and has appeared recently in Lars von Trier's
Breaking the Waves (1996).
Harry Baer, who was in six of
Fassbinder's first seven feature films, in addition to Recruits in
Ingolstadt (1970) and Jail Bait (1972), will also appear as a
special guest, as will the cinematographers Dietrich Lohmann and Michael
Ballhaus, Fassbinder's invaluable collaborators who between them shot more
than half of his films; Barbara Baum, the costume designer for, among other
films, Lili Marleen, Lola (1981), and Querelle (1982);
and Juliane Lorenz, the editor on Fassbinder's last twelve films and his
companion from 1977 until his death in 1982. Lorenz is the director of the
Fassbinder Foundation, Berlin, and co-organizer of the retrospective.
"The apparent effortlessness of Fassbinder's work was achieved in
part by his working on several films with the same technical crew and a
group of talented, protean actors," says Laurence Kardish, Curator and
Coordinator of Film Exhibitions, Department of Film and Video, The Museum
of Modern Art, who co-organized the retrospective with Lorenz. "We are
deeply honored to have so many of these wonderful artists with us for this
unique event."
The world premiere of Rainer Werner Fassbinder
will follow songs, readings, and tributes by these guests. Completed in
1977, this 35–minute documentary by Florian Hopf includes clips of
Fassbinder in his numerous acting roles and rare footage of him on the sets
on his films. Hopf was a celebrated German film critic and a friend of
Fassbinder's, who conceived the idea of making a series of documentaries
about the key figures of the New German Cinema. He conducted a number of
interviews with Fassbinder and secured the clips of Fassbinder acting, but
died before he could complete the film. Following his death, the film
remained among his effects, where, after a time, it was discovered by his
widow. This is its first theatrical screening.
Note to the
Press: This is not a complete list of guests. A notice announcing
additional, as-yet-unconfirmed guests appearing in A Celebration of
Rainer Werner Fassbinder will be released in mid-January. A photo tip
sheet with a list of final guests will be sent to the media immediately
prior to the event.
