Film Screening
Goethe Films: Yesterday Girl

GOETHE FILMS @ TIFF Lightbox

Jeu, 10.10.2024
18h30 TIFF Bell Lightbox

GOETHE FILMS is presented by the Goethe-Institut at the TIFF Lightbox:
Yesterday Girl (Germany 1966, 88 min)
by Alexander Kluge, with Alexandra Kluge, Günter Mack, Eva Maria Meineke and more Tix sold by Sep. 25! Anita G. (played by Alexandra Kluge, the director’s sister) is a telephone operator of Jewish origins, fleeing from the GDR to West Germany in the 1960s in hopes of a better, freer life. However, she struggles to find professional and personal tranquility again and again. 

Kluge’s Yesterday Girl remains a groundbreaking film that transcends traditional filmmaking boundaries of the era. It follows the New Wave narrative of German cinema after the Oberhausen Manifesto, which Kluge co-authored in 1962, and went against conventional cinema tropes to create a new language of filmmaking. Kluge’s stylistic techniques enhance the film’s aesthetics and historical relevance.

“Though made more than 50 years ago, Yesterday Girl remains a fresh and cardinal piece of West German cinema.” - TIFF

12 awards including the German Film Award for Best Feature Film and Best Leading Actress and the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR 

Alexander Kluge was born in 1932 in Halberstadt, Germany. He is a significant figure in post-war cinema and the German New Wave, which spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s and consisted of experimental techniques and narrative structures. Kluge’s early works often blur the boundaries between fiction and documentation, conceptualizing the forms of reality and history. 

Throughout his career, Kluge has made over sixteen feature films and numerous collaborative projects and shorts. His debut feature, Yesterday Girl (Abschied von Gestern, or goodbye to yesterday, in the original) was a significant milestone in his career, establishing him as a prominent voice in German cinema. Another significant work of his, Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed (1968), won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, further securing Kluge’s reputation as an influential figure even to this day.

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In 2024, GOETHE FILMS is celebrating 70 years of German Films, Germany's film marketing agency and a strong partner of the Goethe-Institut worldwide, with this program out of a selection of the best and most successful German films over the past seven decades by German film expert Alfred Holighaus.

This in-cinema program is accompanied and expanded by contemporary films on the topic of Aftermath: Echoes of War on our streaming platform gegenuber.goethe-on-demand.de, available for free in the USA, Canada and Mexico from October 1-November 3, 2024. This online collection of German films shares stories from the last two decades, including more recent post-migrant war experiences, making them highly relevant to our contemporary world. Together, these films tell a wide range of multifaceted human experiences, adding depth and diversity to the program. 

Part of series AFTERMATH: ECHOES OF WAR

DETAILS

Language: with English subtitles; viewer discretion is advised
Price: Tickets $10 online as of 25 September! Or day-of at TIFF Lightbox box office in person or by phone 1-888-258-8433.