New German Cinema

New German Cinema

New German Cinema was launched in 1962 when a group of young film makers declared a new agenda for German Film in a film festival document called the Oberhausen Manifesto

Films in Germany were in decline and were of low quality and content

Lead by three directors – Werner Herzog, Rainer Michael Fassbinder and Wim Wenders, German cinema began to reflect contemporary issues

Inspired by French New Wave

Mixed art and politics, confronted contemporary issues, criticized bourgeois institutions and themes of alienated youth, marginalized groups, the limits of liberal democracy, and journalistic integrity

Wim Wenders (1945)

Wender’s films are known for lush visual imagery (largely thanks to frequent collaborator Cinematographer Robby Müller), travel, experimentation,  and masterful storytelling,

One of the biggest names to emerge as part of the New German Cinema

Studied film at Munich Film Academy while working as a film critic

After directing eight short films for the academy, made his first feature film the thriller Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (1971; The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick)

In 1978, Wenders went to Hollywood to direct Hammett

Received Best Director Award at Cannes in 1987 for Der Himmel über Berlin (“Heaven over Berlin”; Eng. title Wings of Desire), in which angels roam modern-day Berlin. inema movement of the 1970s

Other notable films include Paris, Texas  (1984), Until the End of the World (1991),  Faraway, So Close (1993), and Buena Vista Social Club (1999, Documentary)

Werner Herzog (1942)

Known for capturing men and women at psychological extremes (sometimes by employing controversial techniques to elicit these performances), Klaus Kinski, small budgets, writing and producing his own films, and setting his films in distinct and unfamiliar landscapes

Notable films include: Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972),  Fitzcarraldo (1982),  My Best Fiend (1999, documentary on his relationship with Klaus Kinski), and Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010, documentary)

He also acts and has lent his vocal talents to Penguins of Madagascar (2014) and Rick and Morty (2015, “Shrimply Pibbles”)

Studied history, literature, and music in Munich and the University of Pittsburgh

First feature film was Lebenszeichen (1967; Signs of Life)

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) follows a band of conquistadors into the jungles of South America and marks one of his first collaborations with Klaus Kinski 

It is said Herzog held a gun on Kinski to force him to continue acting, although Kinski, in his autobiography, denies this, adding darkly that he had the only gun.