Film Festival Commemorates 20th Anniversary of Fall of Berlin Wall

        The University of Scranton will host a German Film Festival to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The festival, which is free of charge and open to the public, begins on Nov. 9.

         According to Scranton World Languages and Cultures Professor Jamie Trnka, Ph.D., who is organizing the third annual East German Film Festival, each film will portray events from that time period through the eyes of East German filmmakers.

        "Most people who have any knowledge about the Berlin Wall have not had the opportunity to hear East German perspectives," Trnka said. "They are not aware of the process of peaceful organizing and resistance from within the East that led to the dramatic events of November 9, 1989."

        Trnka has chosen two documentaries and a feature film to present during the festival. All of the works are from East Germany and were filmed between 1989 and 1992. Each showing will include a brief overview to give the audience some historical context. Following each film, there will be time for discussion.

        On Nov. 9, the festival will begin with the showing of Leipzig in the Fall, a short, 50-minute documentary. It was filmed in 1989 and directed by Gerd Kroske and Andreas Voigt. The film documents the events in Leipzig that took place from Oct. 16 through Nov. 7, 1989.

          The Wall, directed by Jürgen Böttcher in 1989, will be shown on Nov. 10. The Wall is a documentary about the peaceful revolution in East Germany leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
 
        "The documentaries are among the most striking documents of peaceful revolution and the changed cultural and physical geographies of Leipzig and Berlin that we have today," Trnka said.

        On Nov. 11, Silent Country will be shown. The film, released in 1992 and directed by Andreas Dresen, who is "arguably one of the most talented young directors trained in the East now recognized internationally for his work," according to Trnka.
 
        All of the films will be shown in the Pearn Auditorium of Brennan Hall beginning at
7 p.m.

        For additional information, call 941-7430.