Arsenal Filminstitut

What is Arsenal Filminstitut?

Arsenal Filminstitut is a Berlin-based, non-profit film society that promotes public access to German and world cinema and film history, with an emphasis on a critical assessment of historic and contemporary trends in film.

What is the mission of Arsenal Filminstitut?

Arsenal Filminstitut emerged from the Friends of the German Film Archive, a non-profit society whose purpose was to make the film holdings of the new German Film Archive available to the broader public and to conduct ongoing cultural work with films from other archives and with contemporary works. Founded in 1963 by film historian Gero Gandert and film critics Ulrich and Erika Gregor, the association purchased the Bayreuther Lichtspiele cinema in 1969, which they renamed - together with their society - Arsenal, after the 1929 film by Oleksandr Dovzhenko.

Characterized by its multifaceted approach to film, which encompasses distribution services, publishing, the organization of festival events, and screenings of historical and contemporary films on its premises, Arsenal Filminstitut plays a pioneering role in the film culture of Germany. By engaging public and academic circles in a continuous dialogue with film, Arsenal evolves forward-looking models for cinema programming, distribution, and archival work, reappraising and communicating with film history dynamically against the backdrop of contemporary trends in technology and image and media culture.

Arsenal’s activities combine the expertise of different professions – filmmakers, actors, curators, artists and researchers – in realizing a variety of interdisciplinary projects, festivals and events.

What activities does Arsenal engage in?

From its humble beginnings as a non-profit intent on promoting the German Film Archive's collection to the public to that of one which has become a dynamic platform for dialogue, Arsenal has grown to encompass a collection of departments which attend to the curation, distribution, archiving, screening of film, as well as affording a platform for the discussion of film and film history.

Arsenal Kino is, by far, the oldest arm of Arsenal. It has been engaged with the curation, promotion and screening of historically significant and artistically ambitious films since the 1960s. Arsenal's overtly diverse program sets in dialogue the historical and the contemporary, the academic and the popular, films which have become established as canon and those that experiment in new directions.

The programs Forum and Forum Expanded are platforms where reflections on film as a medium, its idiosyncratic aesthetic and role as a vehicle for socio-artistic discourse provide the framework for young filmmakers to present their works at the Berlin International Film Festival. Established during the 1970s at the Berlinale as a counter-event where young artists could show their works to the public, the Forum has since become an integral part of this prestigious film festival.

Over the course of six decades of work in cinema and festival participation, Arsenal has amassed a sizable collection encompassing 10,000 titles of both historical and contemporary films. The vastness of this collection has necessitated its separation into two distinct branches: the historical film collection functions under the name arsenal kollektion, while its current distribution arm conducts rentals of more recent works.

How does Arsenal contribute to educating the public about film?

Arsenal Filminstitut conducts educational programs through its branch Arsenal Campus, which encompasses activities in the fields of teaching, research and education for all who are interested in learning more about film and film history. Through a merging of theory and practice, the Arsenal staff familiarizes the public with cinema through theoretical reflections, workshops, summer schools, training programs, access to the archive, and how analogue and digital film formats should be dealt with in practical terms.

Where can I find more information about Arsenal Filminstitut?

Visit the Arsenal Filminstitut site where you can find out the latest news about screenings, workshops, summer schools, and other events.