Theatrum Mundi

Ulrike Ottinger Retrospective

Paris, London, New York, Stockholm, Warsaw and Toronto, the Goethe-Institut has shown Ulrike Ottinger's works worldwide and thus contributed significantly to the recognition of her work. Ulrike Ottinger is one of the most brilliant film artists of our time - she turned 82 this year and is tirelessly producing work, with one retrospective exhibition after the other. From 6 December 2024, the Goethe-Institut Brussels and CINEMATEK will be showing a complete film retrospective.

The concept of Theatrum Mundi, or world theatre, serves as a playful metaphor for global spectacle. Ulrike Ottinger explored this idea in her 1981 surreal episodic film Freak Orlando, part of her Berlin Trilogy and now recognised as a classic of German avant-garde cinema. The creative period of this Berlin era exemplifies Ottinger’s close collaborations with feminist icons such as Tabea Blumenschein, a punk legend of Berlin’s underground, and the feminist cultural icon Delphine Seyrig. Together they forged a bold and subversive path in the avant-garde film movement of the 1970s and 80s. Ottinger's flamboyant and audacious oeuvre shines particularly brightly today among the men of New German Cinema such as Schroeter, Fassbinder and Schlöndorff.

Read more about the life and work of Ulrike Ottinger as well as the programme for the Belgian retrospective.