This winter semester, Kino im Blauen Salon at HfG Karlsruhe explores the relationship between film and urban space under the title “Cinema Above the City.” Whether Playtime transforms Paris into a machine of glass and traffic, Night on Earth connects five metropolises in a single night, Toute une nuit tells of encounters in Brussels, or Taipei Story portrays alienation and change in urban space – the semester program brings together films in which cities are far more than mere backdrops.
“Cinema Above the City” presents films in which urban spaces decisively shape narrative and aesthetics. Between city symphony and genre cinema, documentary and fiction, the metropolis appears as a place of closeness and alienation, community and isolation, memory and change – raising the question of how cities shape our lives and how cinema transforms our perception of these spaces.
The program is complemented by the short film series “Cinema Above the City Shorts,” the new series “Reports from Film Festivals” in cooperation with Prof. Marine Hugonnier, and Berlin – Die Sinfonie der Großstadt with a live DJ set by Lux Lauterwasser. A further highlight is the two-day festival “Carl Laemmle presents: Universal Horror,” featuring classics such as The Phantom of the Opera, The Mummy, Frankenstein, and Dracula, several live scorings, historical short films, and an event on the history of Carl Laemmle and Universal Studios.
With “Aktwechsel – 35mm Workshops,” “Jazz im Blauen Salon,” and, for the first time, “Karaoke im Blauen Salon,” the cinema also opens up to hands-on and musical formats. A large part of the semester program will be screened on 35mm film.
Admission to all film screenings is free, made possible by the volunteer commitment of the non-profit cinema association and the support of HfG Karlsruhe.
More information and the full program at kinoimblauensalon.de
