German: Post-Wall Film

See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.

Prerequisite: GERM 2202 PACE students with permission and override Special Topics courses cannot carry CC designations Colocated with GERM 3990 A; total combined enrollment=25.

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, it didn’t just reunite a country—it changed the language of its cinema. In the decades that followed, filmmakers began asking questions like: What does it mean to be German in a globalized world? How can you look forward while still reckoning with the past? And how can cinema capture life in a post-Wall society shaped by the promises and failures of neoliberalism—where freedom collides with precarity, and progress often comes at a human cost? From the kinetic rush of Lola rennt to the suffocating surveillance of The Lives of Others, post-Wall cinema traces Germany’s evolving sense of self. Films like Barbara and Undine turn quiet resistance into visual poetry, while Ich bin dein Mensch transforms questions of AI and intimacy into a meditation on what it means to be human. In Berlin Alexanderplatz, the struggle for survival and belonging spills beyond national borders, reframing migration and modernity for a new century. Together, these films reveal a nation both haunted by its past and hungry for new ways of imagining its future. In this course, we’ll explore how filmmakers and series creators since 1990 have reinvented what “German film” can be in a Europe without walls—but full of new boundaries. From the privatization of the 1990s film industry to today’s streaming revolution, we’ll examine how shifting technologies, audiences, and transnational collaborations continue to reshape German cinema’s aesthetics, circulation, and global reach. Through this course, students will: • Strengthen language proficiency in spoken and written German through discussion and analysis of film and culture. • Deepen understanding of key movements and themes in post-1990 German cinema within their historical and social contexts. • Analyze how filmmakers represent questions of identity, memory, and belonging in a reunified and globalized Germany. • Expand vocabulary and stylistic range for discussing film form, culture, and contemporary social issues. • Develop intercultural awareness by engaging German cinema as a lens for understanding broader European and global perspectives.

As an upper-level seminar, students are expected to attend class regularly, coming to each session well-prepared to discuss the films and secondary readings and having completed assignments in a timely fashion. Students can expect to spend to spend 6 – 8 hours a week outside of class. All reading materials will be provided by the instructor. Most films/series will be available for students to screen at home for free through the library’s online collection or through other online platforms.

Your final grade will be based on the following components: 1. Active participation – consistent attendance, preparation, and engagement in discussions and activities conducted in German. 2. Quizzes – regular, low-stakes quizzes reinforce learning of key vocabulary, cultural themes, and cinematic concepts from weekly films and readings 3. Two in-class open-note tests – these in-class evaluations demonstrate your growing understanding of major films, sociohistorical contexts, and analytical approaches 4. A final group project – allows you to expand on key course themes through a collaborative creative or analytical project.