Shaping the Past: Return to GO! (2000), dir. Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss

Wed Sep 29 2021 at 07:30 pm to 09:30 pm

Goethe-Institut Washington | Washington

Goethe-Institut Washington
Publisher/HostGoethe-Institut Washington
Shaping the Past: Return to GO! (2000), dir. Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss
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Return to GO! (2000), dir. Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss. Live screening on the terrace of Goethe-Institut Washington.
About this Event

PLEASE READ ALL ADVISORIES BEFORE REGISTRATION. THANK YOU!

COVID-19 PROTOCOL

Proof of vaccination or negative test required; Everyone attending this program will be required to show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative test within the past 72 hours of the day of the event along with a matching photo ID. Proof of vaccination can be your physical vaccine card or a photo of your vaccine card. Documentation must have your full legal name that matches to your proof of identification (driver's license, passport, etc.). Face masks must be worn in the Goethe-Institut at all times.

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OUTDOOR SCREENING ADVISORY

This film will be screened outdoors on a rooftop terrace the evening of September 29, between 7:30pm and 9:30pm. If it rains, we will relocate the screening indoors. Please dress accordingly as the terrace is not heated.


Return to GO! (Zurück auf LOS!) (2000) dir. Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss

Germany. 95 minutes.

In German with English subtitles.

When Sam, a penniless Afro-German singer and writer who grew up in East Germany and is now living in Berlin, finds out that he's HIV-positive, he gets extremely drunk, spends a few days in misery, and then promptly falls in love. In a crumbling, once-grand apartment, Sam and his ravishing on-again-off-again lover Rainer, his devoted and cuttingly funny best friend Bastl, and Bastl's wide-eyed photographer boyfriend Mike come together to form a caring but fragile family. Like the schmaltzy old East German love songs that Sam is recording for his new CD, the film's sweet innocence rises to the top in spite of its characters' misfortunes.

Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss was born in East Berlin on August 17, 1962. He studied acting at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts and acted in two DEFA films: Verflixtes Mißgeschick!, a film by Hannelore Unterberg, and Coming Out, the ground-breaking film by Heiner Carow that premiered on 9 November 1989—the night the Wall came down.

Sanoussi-Bliss acted in several films during the 1990s, including director Dorris Dörrie's Keiner Liebt mich. In 2000, he tried his hand at directing with Zurück auf Los! This film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, screened at over sixty international film festivals and was nominated for a prize at the International Filmfest Emden.

Sanoussi-Bliss lives in Berlin. In addition to continuing to act and direct, he also performs as a voice actor in audio books.

SHAPING THE PAST: PAST AS PROCESS

This film was originally screened virtually during Summer 2021 as part of the streaming series Shaping the Past: Past as Process, curated by Berlin-based Karina Griffith.

Statement from the Curator:

"The 360-tracking shot winding down to a grey intersection shows the approach to time and storytelling in this queer musical. Unlike the one-way street in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg aspiring singer and perpetual party boy Sam lives, time moves in all directions in this tragic comedy. A positive HIV diagnosis makes the past ever present, and the family of friends Sam creates in post-unification Germany prioritizes living in the present tense against all odds."


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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Goethe-Institut Washington, 1377 R St. NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, United States

Tickets

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