Students from De Montfort University’s (DMU) Leicester Media School visited ‘one of the most iconic and historically important cinemas in Berlin’ today as part of the #DMUglobal visit to the city.
The group explored Kino International cinema in East Berlin, which showed film premieres before the fall of the Berlin Wall, and is still used for premieres due to its unusual style and historical significance. The iconic cinema is even one of the venues of the Berlin International Film Festival.
Holly Findley, a second year Film Studies student, said: “I feel I can really put myself in to the history here, I’ve sat in these seats and can imagine watching one of the films here like people did years ago.”
Film Studies student Keegan McGrath added: “I can just imagine the red carpets out front and people walking in to attend a premiere!”
Kino International is also one of few venues which is still a single-screen cinema and the front of the building features an impressive painted film poster showing the film of the week.
Lecturer and trip lead Dr Monia Acciari, an Early Career Academic Fellow in Film Studies, said: “There are historical jewels throughout the city and so much is relevant to film and media students.
“This cinema is one of the most iconic and historically important cinemas in Berlin.”
The group also visited C/O Berlin, a museum exhibiting the work of William Klein, a filmmaker and photographer known for challenging convention in film, image and painting.
Monia said: “This museum is relevant to what the students are learning and the work of Klein is so important and different from the usual, it’s good for the students to experience it.”
First year student Keegan McGrath said: “I didn’t know what to expect from this museum, but the images are like seeing snapshots in to people’s lives.
"It definitely relates to my studies, some photographs make everything seem pretty, but these show reality which I can relate to the types of film I’m most interested in studying.”
RELATED NEWS
Guten tag Berlin! 850 DMU students to fly to German capital
Berlin-bound History student grabs DMU opportunities with both hands
Priceless insights into BMW, tinnitus research and war history on first day of huge Berlin visit
Ffion Quick, a Cultural Events Management MSc student who joined the visit, said: “Seeing the different cultures represented in the images here is really interesting to me and the differences have been captured so well.”
The group also travelled to Babylon Berlin, another historically important cinema in the city, which shows a lot of international film. Later this week students will be visiting the Potsdam Film Museum and the Berlin Film Museum to learn more about the history of film.
Posted on Tuesday 13 June 2017