About this Event
Ever loved someone so much you rebuilt an entire collapsed political system just to keep them from having a heart attack? No? Well, Alex has, and it's glorious.
Join Cinema Social Club for a screening of "Good Bye, Lenin!" (2003), Wolfgang Becker's beloved German tragicomedy starring a baby-faced Daniel Brühl. When his die-hard socialist mother wakes from a coma just as the Berlin Wall falls, Alex decides the safest thing to do is... not tell her. Cue an increasingly elaborate cover-up involving smuggled pickle jars, faked news broadcasts, and the fabrication of an entire reality one white lie at a time.
With "Good Bye, Lenin!" we're launching our new project, "Media on Trial". This is a series exploring how narratives are constructed, controlled, or suppressed. Understanding this feels increasingly urgent, yet it's rarely addressed through accessible, communal cultural programming. In uncertain times; amid wars, social division, and media chaos - it's more important than ever to help people learn how to read media critically, not simply consume headlines and highlights.
We're honoured to welcome Professor Anna Saunders, Head of the Department of Languages, Cultures, and Film at the University of Liverpool and a specialist in the history and memory of the GDR, who'll unpack the film's historical backdrop before the screening. After the film, Ross Montgomery of the Liverpool German Stammtisch group will lead a discussion bringing the perspective of Liverpool's own German community.
Together, we'll dig into how narratives get constructed, and why we sometimes want them to be true.
A gently hilarious, quietly devastating film with a trophy cabinet full of awards (and one of the most charming leading men German cinema has produced) this is your chance to see a modern classic on the big screen, with the historical context to match.
The film will be screend with English subritles.
📅 19 September 2026
1:30pm - Doors open
2:00pm - Introduction by Professor Anna Saunders
2:15pm - Film
4:15pm - Discussion led by the Liverpool German Stammtisch group
📍 Museum of Liverpool
🎟️ Tickets: Only £5.00 (including free merchandise, courtesy of Bull & Buffalo Design and prize draw)
Partners: Film Hub North, BFI Film Network Audience, Happy Days Apartments Group, Liverpool German Stammtisch ,Bull & Buffalo Design and Filmbankmedia distributor.
Event venue & nearby stays
Museum of Liverpool, Mann Island, Liverpool, United Kingdom
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