UFA Movie Nights on Museum Island

This year, for the first time, the UFA Film Nights take a journey to the burgeoning Hollywood and feature films by renowned German directors who, lured to Hollywood in the 1920s, achieved both artistic and commercial success there.

The three American masterpieces by Ernst Lubitsch, Paul Leni, and Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau attest to the high international standing that German cinema enjoyed at that time.

At the time, Hollywood studios offered talented German professionals—including not only directors but also producers, actors and actresses, cinematographers, screenwriters, and set designers—opportunities to advance their careers on the world stage.

This year’s UFA Film Nights commemorate this unique era of cinematic collaboration between the U.S. and Germany—an era marked by the American partners’ clearly defined economic interests.

In the 1920s, they recognized and capitalized on the vast creative potential they found in Germany. Reinforced by the influx of predominantly German-Jewish film emigrants fleeing Nazi terror a decade later, this would have a lasting and productive influence on Hollywood’s further development.

The first evening, on Wednesday, August 26, will be marked by the famous Lubitsch touch. Ernst Lubitsch’s 1925 film adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s social satire *Lady Windermere’s Fan* revolves around highly complicated family entanglements.

The all-female ensemble The Roaring Dames, led by Luiza Labouriau, will perform the premiere of a new composition by Tobias Schwencke.

On the second evening, the program continues with Paul Leni’s 1927 film *The Cat and the Canary* (*Spuk im Schloss*), shot at the legendary Universal Studios of the German-Jewish Hollywood pioneer Carl Laemmle. For his horror comedy, Paul Leni draws on stylistic elements of German Expressionism.

The Spooky Tune ensemble, featuring Carolina Eyck on the theremin and conducted by George Morton, will perform a composition by Neil Brand, commissioned by Photoplay Productions for CHANNEL 4.

The UFA Film Nights conclude with SUNRISE (SONNENAUFGANG) from 1927, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s Hollywood debut and his undisputed masterpiece to this day. The melodrama, based on a novella by Hermann Sudermann, won three Oscars.

Featuring Ekkehard Wölk & The Silent Light Orchestra.

All films will be preceded by an introduction covering film history and contemporary history.

Actress Alexandra Maria Lara is the patron of this year’s UFA Film Nights.

Tickets are available for 22 euros at www.ufa-filmnaechte.de.

The program:

Wednesday, August 26, 2026,

Film starts at 9:00 p.m.

• LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN (1925)
• Directed by Ernst Lubitsch (based on Oscar Wilde)
• Starring Irene Rich, May McAvoy, Bert Lytel
• Production: Warner Bros.
• Running time: 82 min.
• Music: Premiere of a new composition by Tobias Schwencke. Performed by The Roaring
• Dames, conducted by Luiza Labouriau

Thursday, August 27, 2026,

Showtime: 9:00 p.m.

• THE CAT AND THE CANARY (SPUK IM SCHLOSS, 1927)
• Directed by Paul Leni
• Starring Laura La Plante, Creighton Hale, Tully Marshall
• Production: Universal Pictures
• Runtime: 108 min.
• Music: The Spooky Tune Ensemble, conducted by George Morton and featuring Carolina Eyck on the theremin, performs a composition by Neil Brand

Friday, August 28, 2026,

Showtime: 9:00 p.m.

• SUNRISE (1927)
• Directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
• Starring George O’Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston
• Production: Fox Film Corporation
• Runtime: 106 min.
• Music: Ekkehard Wölk & The Silent Light Orchestra

The UFA Film Nights are presented by Bertelsmann in cooperation with UFA.

Partners include the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau Foundation, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, and Velomax. Ströer, the Yorck Cinema Group, radio3, and Maz&Movie are media partners.