PARIS CALLIGRAMMES  2020 * Directed by Ulrike Ottinger * 129 minutes * In German and French with English subtitles

The wonderfully offbeat female German director Ulrike Ottinger (Ticket of No Return, Freak Orlando) grew up in a thriving artistic milieu as a teenager. You can see that creative impact on her outlandish feature films. In this documentary she returns to the environment the formed her as an artist, which happened to be Paris of the 1960s where she lived and loved in a bohemian world.

In this film we nosedive into her memories and reflections of when she lived as a painter in Paris when it was changing and exploding. The film maps the thriving cultural and social life of that spectral world... the Latin Quarter, the literary cafés and jazz clubs, discussions with writers, artists and philosophers, the underground culture, along with the growing student unrest that was building and erupted in 1968. Paris Calligrammes conjures up that world by collecting together home movies, documentaries and clips from feature movies, and tying all together with her astute narration. But let's be clear - this is not just some quaint nostalgic path down memory lane - Ottinger punctuates her essay with pretty uncomfortable observations and razor-sharp provocations. All in all, it is a lively document about a special place and time by one of Germany's greatest avant-garde filmmakers.

This will be a high-definition projection.
Doors open at 19:30, intro starts at 20:30  * You can email for a reservation through info-amsterdam * goethe.de