Lights, camera…

It's that time again: The international film scene is ready to send its stars to Berlin for the Berlinal International Film Festival, starting February 10. Films from throughout the world compete for the coveted Silver and Golden Bears. The festival offers fans of German film a special world premiere: Wim Wenders' 3-D flick about the famous choreographer Pina Bausch, who passed away in June 2009. Along with the main awards program, there are six other events including "Perspektive Deutsches Kino." Now in its 10th year, the series supports up-and-coming talents in German filmmaking by presenting their work to a broader audience. Nearly half of the 11 films in the series are documentaries. The lower production costs generally associated with documentaries may be a reflection of the tough financial circumstances filmmakers have faced lately. February rounds out with another treat for film lovers: the Oscars in Los Angeles on February 27.

Reflecting on Surrealism

Organizing a major art exhibition is no easy task. That's especially true for smaller museums that don't have many prestigious holdings to offer big galleries in exchange for other works. Less famous museums often have to rely on convincing exhibition concepts to bring in donations. Frankfurt's Schirn gallery has been successful at doing just that since its opening 25 years ago. The institution is planning to celebrate its anniversary in 2011 with a look back at the Surrealists in "Surreal Objects: Three-Dimensional Works from Dalí to Man Ray" from February 11 to May 29. Around 180 pieces from 51 international artists will be shown, including popular names like Picasso, Duchamp and Magritte. The gallery usually highlights connections between art of the past and present through its exhibitions, and that's true of this show as well. A select group of art students from Frankfurt's Städelschule - one of the most prestigious art academies in Germany - have been invited to design the entry area to the exhibition. The focus of their design will be on how impulses from classical masterpieces continue to influence new generations of artists.

Perspectives on immigration

Just who is supposed to be integrated where - and how? That's a question at the heart of a project in Berlin involving three pupils from the city's high schools. With the help of anthropology students, the young investigators are taking part in a kind of field research in their own surroundings. How do their friends and family deal with the topic of love? What traditions do neighbors, best friends and their own families have? Which memories are important, which problems are discussed, and which are suppressed? The background for the project is the fact that many young people in Berlin's secondary schools come from widely diverse cultural backgrounds. Many were born in Germany but have parents who were born in Turkey, Iran or Morocco. Especially in 2010, integration was a topic of heated debate in Germany, so the question of how immigrants themselves look at the issue is more important than ever. The results will be presented in the form of videos, texts and installations in the House of World Cultures in Berlin. It runs alongside the Berlin International Film Festival series "Generation," which is presented in the same venue from February 13 - 25.

Honoring Kurt Weill

Composer Kurt Weill was born in Germany, but later rejected being referred to as German. Of Jewish heritage, he fled the country in 1933, moving first to Paris and then to the US, where he received citizenship in 1943. In Germany, he's especially well-known for his collaborations with Bertolt Brecht in the 1920s. He wrote the music for the famous "Threepenny Opera." Weill's birth city of Dessau has honored him with a festival every year since 1993. This year's Kurt Weill Fest from February 25 to March 13 will focus on the works that came about during the composer's time in Berlin. It's part of a three-year series; his creative output during his time in Paris and in the USA will follow. The festival highlights his music against the cultural backdrop in which he created. Along with the concerts, there are Chanson evenings, exhibitions and screenings of Berlin cinema from the 1920s and 30s, like "Berlin Alexanderplatz" (1931) or "The Blue Angel" (1930). Once banned by the Nazis, today they are classics.

Love is in the air

Florists out to earn some extra money have long been the prime suspects, but who actually came up with Valentine's Day? The holiday still isn't overwhelmingly popular in Germany, but it has been on the up in recent years. At least, that's the impression you get when looking at storefront windows in February: hearts upon hearts, wherever you turn. The celebration's origins are unclear. Some speculate it stems from a saint called Valentine. Legend has it that he secretly wed couples and then sent them flowers. Others suggest that the holiday comes from a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer in which birds pair up with one another on one special day. When it comes to humans, however, Carnival may serve the same purpose just as well - but this year Carnival isn't in February as usual, but in March.

Author: Petra Lambeck / gsw
Editor: Kate Bowen