"Battleship Potemkin" and "Symphony of the Skyscrapers"

Sergei Eisenstein’s monumental work *Battleship Potemkin* was produced as a state-commissioned film to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1905 Revolution and was openly promoted as a piece of propaganda. Thanks to its rigorous editing, unusual camera angles and impressive crowd scenes, the film is still regarded as a classic today.

To mark the film’s 100th anniversary, the Pet Shop Boys recorded a new soundtrack with the Dresden Symphony Orchestra, for which they were, however, criticised by Ukrainian sources.

Against the backdrop of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the film – shot largely in Odessa and the Crimea – takes on new significance.

Heleen Gerritsen, artistic director of the Deutsche Kinemathek, will introduce the film and discuss its origins, production and controversial reception from 1926 to the present day.

‘Hochhaussinfonie’, Germany 2006, directed by Bettina Renner, German original version, 68 mins

In ‘Hochhaussinfonie’, Bettina Renner documents the preparations for an unusual musical project. The large block of flats on Prager Straße in Dresden was actually supposed to have stood empty for some time by 2006, yet people still live in this unrenovated GDR prefabricated block. A concert is to take place here featuring the Dresden Symphony Orchestra and the Pet Shop Boys – together they will perform and provide the musical accompaniment for ‘Battleship Potemkin’. The balconies will serve as the orchestra pit. We meet residents of the ‘Zeile’ who have lived here for over 30 years. With humour but also a touch of wistfulness, they talk about their lives, look back and wonder what the future may hold. Meanwhile, the machinery of the concert preparations is set in motion.

• Guest: Bettina Renner (director)
• Presenter: Heleen Gerritsen (Artistic Director, Deutsche Kinemathek)

There will be an interval between the two films.