UFA Film Nights
August 24 - 26, 2022 in the Heart of Berlin!
It’s an even dozen: Welcome to the 12th edition of the UFA Film Nights! The exclusive venue is once again Berlin’s Museum Island. From August 24 to 26, 2022, Bertelsmann and UFA will present cinematic masterpieces of Weimar cinema on three evenings in the open air, against a spectacular backdrop and accompanied by live music.
This year, the first film is Arnold Fanck’s DER BERG DES SCHICKSALS (MOUNTAIN OF DESTINY) from 1924, the first full-length feature film in the mountain film genre pioneered by Fanck, and lead actor Luis Trenker’s on-screen debut. The film was shot on original locations in Trenker’s homeland, the Dolomites, and premiered in 1924 at the UFA Pavilion on Nollendorfplatz in Berlin. UFA Film Nights, in cooperation with the F.W. Murnau Foundation, is screening the world premiere of the restored version of the movie, accompanied by a new composition by Florian C. Reithner. The Metropolis Orchestra Berlin will perform under the direction of Burkhard Götze, with composer Reithner himself playing the organ.
The second evening will feature Fritz Lang’s DR. MABUSE, DER SPIELER (DR. MABUSE, THE GAMBLER), and marks a real anniversary. Subtitled The Great Gambler. A Picture of the Times, this first film of a two-part series presented the world of cinema with one of the first supervillains exactly 100 years ago. Lang placed his film on a socially critical plateau that held a mirror up to what he saw as the degenerate post-war society of the young Weimar Republic. DJ legend Jeff Mills from Detroit sets DR. MABUSE, DER SPIELER with his specially created music for the film in a world premiere live at the mixing desk.
The third evening is devoted to Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch, the dream couple of the emerging talkie era, who first appeared together – still in silent mode – under director Richard Eichberg in DIE KEUSCHE SUSANNE. The screening marks the premiere of the restored version. Under the direction of pianist, composer and arranger Ekkehard Wölk, the Silent Light Ensemble presents – in another premiere – a composition inspired by Jean Gilbert’s popular operetta of the same name by, but also inspired by the dance music of the 1920s and incorporating modern jazz elements.
