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Thursday, October 17, 2024, 7:30 pm

Berlin – Portbou. In the footsteps of Walter Benjamin

Documentary (D 2022), 86 min, directed by Sophie Narr

Film and discussion with Jeanine Meerapfel, Sophie Narr, Erdmut Wizisla
(in German!)

Walter Benjamin took his own life in the Spanish-French border town of Portbou in 1940 while fleeing from the National Socialists. Accompanied by a team of Akademie der Künste Berlin, high school students from the Rosa-Luxemburg-Gymnasium in Berlin spent two years exploring Benjamin's life and work, and followed in his footsteps across the Pyrenees in September 2021. Director Sophie Narr captured the journey in a film. The step-by-step approach to Benjamin's mysterious personality invites us to explore overarching themes. What does fleeing do to a person? What value do gratitude and empathy have? What can we learn from each other across generations?

The film will be followed by a discussion with the students involved in the project and with Jeanine Meerapfel, Sophie Narr and Erdmut Wizisla, who accompanied the project and the journey.

Free admission
No registration required

Location:
Werkstatt Exilmuseum
Fasanenstr. 24, 10719 Berlin
The building is unfortunately not accessible to wheelchair users.

On the day of the event the exhibition 'Children in Exile' is open until 6 p.m.

Berlin – Portbou. In the footsteps of Walter Benjamin
Documentary (2022), Germany, 86 min, DCP, 16/9, Dolby Surround
Produced by Akademie der Künste
Director, Camera, Editing: Sophie Narr
Production: Marion Neumann (AdK - Kunstwelten)



Photo: © Sophie Narr