UBI
Spain's government pushes through basic income guarantee to fight poverty


Issued on: 29/05/2020

Volunteers prepare rations of donated food ahead of a distribution to people in need at the Santa Anna church in Barcelona on May 15, 2020. © Joseph Lago, AFP

Text by:FRANCE 24Follow

The Spanish government approved on Friday the creation of a minimum income worth 462 euros ($514) a month for the poorest, Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias told a news conference, in a scheme that targets some 2.5 million people
Under the decree approved at a cabinet meeting, the Socialist-led government would pay the monthly stipend and top up existing revenue for people earning less so that they get at least that minimum amount every month, Iglesias told reporters.

The minimum income would increase with the number of family members to a total of up to 1,015 euros per month. The new programme aims to reach 850,000 households or 2.5 million people and would cost the government about 3 billion euros a year.

The plan to install a basic income was a pre-electoral promise, but it was accelerated due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Spain is one of Europe's hardest hit countries, with more than 27,000 deaths and nearly 238,000 confirmed cases of the virus. It also has one of the highest unemployment rates on the continent.

Close to a million jobs were lost in March alone when the lockdown began and the Bank of Spain has forecast the economy will contract by up to 12% this year.

GOOD NEWS
Canada bans cruise ship visits until October
LATER FOR THE HIGH ARCTIC

Issued on: 29/05/2020

The 'Caribbean Princess' cruise ship in Colon, Panama, on May 28, 2020: such vessels will be banned from Canadian waters until October because of the coronavirus pandemic Ivan PISARENKO AFP

Ottawa (AFP)

The Canadian government on Friday extended by three months a ban on cruise ships entering Canadian waters because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The ban, which began in April and will now run to October, has been tightened to include passenger boats and other vessels with more than 100 passengers and crew, the ministry of transport said in a statement. The original ban was on vessels with a capacity of 500 or more people.

The move will deal a blow to several Canadian cities such as Vancouver, Quebec and Montreal, where the cruise industry makes an important economic contribution.

In 2019, Canada was visited by 140 cruise ships from a dozen countries with some two million tourists on board, according to the ministry.

Small boats for short excursions, such as whale watching, will however be allowed to resume their activities starting on July 1, in line with permission by provincial and local authorities.

Nevertheless, the movement of vessels with a capacity of more than 12 people will be banned from Arctic coastal water until October 31.

These rules do not apply to small craft used by local communities for transport or fishing.

Ferries, deemed essential services, will be allowed to continue operating but will have to implement safety measures to curb the spread of the disease.

Anyone caught violating the ban faces a fine of Can$5,000 ($3,600) per day for individuals and Can$25,000 for businesses.

© 2020 AFP

Trump says US 'terminating' relationship with WHO
Issued on: 29/05/2020

US President Donald Trump has severed ties with the World Health Organization 

Washington (AFP)

President Donald Trump said Friday he was severing US ties with the World Health Organization, which he says failed to do enough to combat the initial spread of the novel coronavirus.

Trump first suspended funding to the UN agency a month ago, accusing it of mismanaging its handling of the global pandemic.

Then 10 days ago, he accused the Geneva-based WHO of being a "puppet" of China, and said the funding freeze would become permanent unless it made "substantive improvements".


"Because they have failed to make the requested and greatly needed reforms, we will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization," Trump told reporters.

The Republican leader said the US would be redirecting funds previously allocated to the WHO "to other worldwide and deserving urgent global public health needs."

"The world needs answers from China on the virus. We must have transparency," Trump said.

Beijing has furiously denied the US allegations that it played down the threat when the virus first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

It says Washington is trying to shirk its responsibilities to the WHO and shift blame for its own uneven virus response.

The United States was the largest contributor to the WHO budget, providing at least $400 million in funding last year.

Earlier this week, the UN health agency launched a new independently-run foundation for private donations, which the organization hopes will give it greater control to direct philanthropic and public donations towards pressing problems such as the coronavirus crisis.

The vast majority of the WHO's budget is in voluntary contributions, which go straight from countries and other donors to their chosen destination.

The WHO therefore only has control over the spending of countries' "assessed contributions" from member states, which are calculated on their wealth and population.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the creation of the new foundation was not related to Trump's threat.

"It has nothing to do with the recent funding issues," he said Wednesday, detailing that greater financial flexibility had been among his long-term reform plans since taking over the organization in July 2017.

© 2020 AFP

The World Health Organization and 30 countries led by Costa Rica have launched an initiative aimed at making diagnostics, drugs and vaccines for the new coronavirus available for anybody who wants it.

"Vaccines, tests, diagnostics, treatments and other key tools in the coronavirus response must be made universally available as global public goods," Costa Rica's President Carlos Alvarado said.

Dubbed the "Technology Access Pool," the initiative is intended to encourage countries to freely share genetic sequences of the virus and to license any potential treatment or vaccine through the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool. 

"Since the beginning of the pandemic, science has been the heart of the WHO's effort to suppress transmission and save lives," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

DW/AFP

PHOTO ESSAY
African designers take on COVID-19 in style

The face mask has become a global symbol in the fight against COVID-19. But for fashion designers in Africa, the masks are more than just a protective piece of cloth. Here are some of the best styles from the continent.

SEE THE REST HERE

 https://www.dw.com/en/african-designers-take-on-covid-19-in-style/g-53612986

Gurlitt trove: Research on Nazi-looted art ends

The investigation concludes with few definite answers: Only 14 out of the 1,500 artworks found in Cornelius Gurlitt's possession have been formally identified as Nazi-looted art. What else has been achieved?

Watch video  https://p.dw.com/p/3cuDC
Research into rightful owners of art in Gurlitt trove ends

It was presumably the most spectacular art find of the postwar period. And it happened by accident. In 2012, the public prosecutor's office searched the home of an 80-year-old man in Munich, suspecting him of tax evasion. Cornelius Gurlitt had been previously found carrying €9,000 ($9,900) traveling across the Swiss border by train. That led authorities to further investigate and finally search his apartment.

Around 1,500 works of art were found there, and even more were hidden at another one of Gurlitt's properties in Salzburg. Among the paintings seized by the authorities were masterpieces by Monet, Picasso, Liebermann, Beckmann and Matisse.

A reclusive art lover

Cornelius Gurlitt, who died of heart disease in 2014, was the son of the Nazi art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt, who was in charge of acquiring artworks for Adolf Hitler's planned museum.

The find, which became known as the Gurlitt Trove, had everything to become a media thriller, and Cornelius Gurlitt was depicted by the tabloid press as a "mysterious art collector" who avoided people and even secretly smuggled a Monet drawing into the hospital in his suitcase in 2014.


Gurlitt kept many of the works in this metal drawer

The reclusive art lover was the guardian of his father's collection. He occasionally sold works for a living, but never added more to the collection. Books, films and plays portraying the cranky old man's story have been made.

For many, the name Gurlitt stands for Nazi art theft — but is that really the case?

Extensive research into provenance of works

A task force was initially set up for the investigation. In 2016, the newly created German Lost Art Foundation (Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste) in Magdeburg took over the research, which has now ended.

The final report, however, offers sobering results: Only 14 works by artists such as Max Liebermann, Henri Matisse, Thomas Couture or Adolph von Menzel have so far been officially identified as looted art, 13 of which could be returned to the heirs of their rightful owners.


'Two Riders on a Beach' by Max Liebermann was returned to the heirs of the rightful Jewish owner

Of the more than 1,500 works of art in the trove, around 300 were cleared early in the investigation, as they were found to have been owned or commissioned by members of the Gurlitt family before the Nazis took power.

The remaining artworks were then examined over several years to determine if they came into the possession of the Gurlitt family legally or through art theft. Was the Nazi art dealer benefiting from the persecution and expropriation of Jewish collectors? And how can that be determined today, almost 80 years after the fact?

A large, international team of researchers

"We did everything we could. To my knowledge, there has never been provenance research of this extent in the past," Gilbert Lupfer, director of the German Lost Art Foundation told DW. "In my opinion," adds the art history expert, "there wasn't anything more that could have been done. A greater deployment of experts, scientists and funding would hardly be conceivable."

The 14 formally identified works make up only a small number of the entire collection, admits Lupfer, but beyond the numbers, he says that "every single case that has been clarified is a contribution to what could be called historical justice. I am happy about every piece that we have been able to identify and return."

1,000 works of art in the gray zone

Provenance research is painstaking, meticulous work, which requires determining exactly where and from whom Gurlitt bought or stole a painting. It must also be proven that exactly that artwork was owned by a persecuted family of collectors.

Every single detail was analyzed by the researchers. In one case for example, a small hole in Thomas Couture's Portrait de jeune femme assise helped them. Through infrared light examination, it was determined that the painting had been restored exactly at that point, as previously described by the wife of French Resistance politician Georges Mandel.

However, the origin of many works — around 1,000 — remains uncertain. "There is a large gray zone," admits Lupfer. The results of the investigation not only reflect the possibilities of research, but also its limits: "Many questions remain unanswered since there are not many sources of information left, nearly a century later."

The art trove now belongs to the Museum of Fine Arts Bern, to which Cornelius Gurlitt had surprisingly bequeathed his collection before his death.

The Bern Museum accepted to take on the controversial collection after weighing up the legal ramifications and moral implications it implied

Nazi art theft in France

The research also brought new insights into how the art market and art theft worked in occupied France, as the investigation also looked into Hildebrandt Gurlitt's business practices while he was based in Paris as one of the main buyers of the "Special Order Linz" for Hitler's planned "Führer Museum."

It was found that the art dealer had developed a "whole range of legal and illegal methods," says Lupfer. "Hildebrand Gurlitt tried to cover his tracks — not only when it came to Jewish property, but also from a tax perspective." For example, he falsified receipts or cheated on his French business partners. These concealed methods make it even more difficult to determine the origin of the artworks.

Through the investigation, transnational research between Germany and France has been taken to a new level, notes Lupfer.

Altogether, the Gurlitt Trove has also made it possible to develop more resources for provenance research of Nazi-looted art. The creation of the German Lost Art Foundation four years ago is part of that process.

Meticulous research: Gurlitt's annotations on the back of paintings were deciphered

More questions to be answered

Now that the Gurlitt investigation has been closed, what's next?

There are more than enough research assignments for the German Lost Art Foundation, for example at museums or libraries. However, many German museums aren't in a rush to have the provenance of the works that entered their collection during or after World War II determined.

Another issue that certainly needs to be looked into is the role of the art market in the Gurlitt case: "Of course, people in the art trade knew that the son of the old Hildebrand still had very interesting pieces," Lupfer told German press agency dpa. Works were received and auctioned from time to time, he adds, and no one felt the need to report them.

DW RECOMMENDS

Nazi-looted art: 4 further works from Gurlitt collection identified

Authorities have identified four additional works from the Gurlitt collection as having been looted from a Jewish family during World War II. The drawings will be returned to descendants of the original owners. (10.09.2018)

Watercolor stolen by Nazis returned to original museum

Another piece of the infamous Gurlitt trove is being returned to its original home. An early 20th-century work by German expressionist Christian Rohlfs is headed back to the Kunstmuseum Moritzburg in Halle. (04.12.2019)

Nazi-looted art: Restitution process a 'permanent task'

Works of art that were stolen or confiscated by the Nazis from museums and Jewish collectors are starting to be returned to the heirs of the former owners. However the process is destined to drag on for years to come. (22.01.2020)

Unanswered questions abound after death of 'art hermit' Gurlitt

The man who attracted the attention of the world with a uniquely controversial art collection is no more. But the name Cornelius Gurlitt is sure to crop up in the headlines in the months to come. (07.05.2014)

'Origin unknown': the Gurlitt Exhibition in Jerusalem

Gurlitt art trove works that were once 'Nazi treasure' are being exhibited for the first time in Israel, including much so-called "degenerate" art. Visitors have the chance to explore long-hidden Jewish family histories. (26.09.2019)

Gurlitt find: 'Degenerate' and Nazi-stolen art exhibitions in Bern and Bonn

While the Bern exhibition focuses on "degenerate art," the Bonn show includes mainly Nazi-looted artworks or those of questionable provenance. The works from Cornelius Gurlitt's estate have caused ownership controversy. (02.11.2017)

German task force finds five Nazi-looted works in Gurlitt trove

As they released their final report, the task force in charge of the Nazi-era Gurlitt art stash claimed they needed more time. Jewish groups have already decried the snail's pace of the investigation. (14.01.2016)

Gurlitt: An art world thriller

In November 2013, a huge collection of lost art works were discovered in the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt. One year later, new chapters are being written in the Gurlitt thriller. (24.11.2014)

Gurlitt collection shown in Bern

The exhibition "Gurlitt Inventory. Denerate Art" opened in November 2017, with the Bern Art Museum revealing, for the first time, works discovered in the Gurlitt private collection in Munich. Here are a few. (02.11.2017) 

AUDIOS AND VIDEOS ON THE TOPIC

Research into rightful owners of art in Gurlitt trove ends

Date 28.05.2020
Author Nadine Wojcik (eg)
Homepage DW News -
Related Subjects Cornelius Gurlitt, Museum
Keywords Gurlitt, arts, Nazi-looted art, museum

Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3cuDC

Citizenship law: Is India using COVID-19 emergency to arrest protesters?

Indian police have arrested two student activists, who in February participated in mass demonstrations against a controversial citizenship act. Activists say the law discriminates against the country's Muslim minority.


Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, who are part of the Pinjra Tod women's rights initiative, were arrested by police on May 23. The court, however, granted them bail, rejecting a police request for the women’s detention.

The judge noted that Kalita and Narwal only participated in demonstrations; they did not commit any acts of violence.

But they were re-arrested a day after their release. A special investigation team booked them under charges of murder, attempted murder, rioting and criminal conspiracy.

Read more: Protesters in India object to facial recognition expansion

The Pinjra Tod group condemned the arrest, saying the crackdown on student activists poses a big challenge. "However, we’ll continue to fight for equality and dignity," it added.

Protesters have risen up across India in opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was introduced by the country's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The bill was passed by Indian parliament in December, 2019.

The CAA would provide a fast-track to Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Many consider the CAA to be discriminatory against Muslims.

Scores of people have died in violence surrounding the protests. Since February, police have arrested hundreds of protesters, including liberal students, who are the forefront of the anti-CAA campaign.

"The government is misusing its power, especially during the lockdown to contain the coronavirus spread in the country," Shabnam Hashmi, an activist, told DW.

Watch video Indian citizenship law brings protestors to the streets https://p.dw.com/p/3cuei

Spate of arrests

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi rejected accusations that his government's new citizenship law was anti-Muslim.

Protesters are concerned that the new law threatens India's secular constitution and Indian-Muslim citizenship.

Modi says the opposition parties are distorting the facts about the citizenship act to weaken his government. The premier singled out the Congress party for conspiring "to push not only New Delhi but other parts of the country into a fear psychosis.''

Despite the premier’s claims, police continue to arrest anti-CAA activists.

"Many of the cases [against anti-CAA protesters] are still under investigation. We can’t comment on them," a police official told DW.

On May 1, some 300 teachers, researchers and journalists across India released a statement against these arrests.

On Wednesday, over 500 activists, professionals and well-known citizens issued a statement condemning the arrests of Kalita and Narwal by Delhi Police. "We object to the criminalization of the right to protest. It is unconstitutional and deprives citizens of their right to free expression and criticism," the statement said.

Read more: Indian diaspora in Germany deplores 'fascist' citizenship act

'Travesty of justice'

Activists say the government is using the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) to arrests protesters. Last week, police arrested Asif Iqbal Tanha, a graduate student, under UAPA.

UAPA allows investigative agencies to proscribe individuals as terrorists and empowers security officials to probe cases. A person charged under the act can be jailed for up to seven years.

"What we are witnessing is a complete travesty of justice. The criminal justice system is being used to discredit the biggest non-violent protest for the protection of the country’s constitution," Yogendra Yadav, a political activist, told DW.

Activists say the timing of the latest crackdown against anti-CAA activists is worrisome because the country is currently battling against the surge in COVID-19 cases. Most of the country is under a partial lockdown, which has restricted people’s movement. For those who have been arrested recently, it is almost impossible to get legal aid due to coronavirus restrictions.

Read more: India bans citizenship bill protests — as it happened



INDIA'S NEW CITIZENSHIP LAW IGNITES RELIGIOUS TENSIONS
Shutdown in parts of India
The Indian government suspended internet services and tightened security on Friday in several parts of the country, including the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The government is expecting another wave of violent protests against the controversial new Citizenship Amendment Act, which was enacted on December 11. PHOTOS 12345678


Date 28.05.2020
Author Murali Krishnan (New Delhi)
Related Subjects Asia, India, Coronavirus
Keywords Asia, India, Citizenship Amendment Act, protests, coronavirus

Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3cuei

FILM
What defined filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder

The German director, who was born 75 years ago, was extremely prolific despite his destructive lifestyle. A Fassbinder expert tells DW about how his genius was first recognized abroad



Rainer Werner Fassbinder's significance as a filmmaker is an established fact in Germany, but the country was never too fond of him — especially not of his lifestyle. The director, who died at the age of 37, was extremely prolific during his short life. From 1969 until his death in 1982, he directed over 40 feature films, two TV series, different short films and video productions, and 24 plays.

But work was not his only addiction. His drug and alcohol abuse came at a price, also affecting his popularity in Germany. Local cinephiles were more likely to be fans of the films of Volker Schlöndorff, Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders than Fassbinder's.

A self-taught genius

Still, New German Cinema, the wave of new arthouse directors that revolutionized West German filmmaking in the 1960s, would not be conceivable without Fassbinder.

Born on May 31, 1945 in Bad Wörishofen, Bavaria, Fassbinder never attended a film school, but rather learned to make films on his own. That's perhaps exactly what made him strong and courageous. Fassbinder did whatever he wanted. He didn't allow anyone to meddle in his film projects or his lifestyle, which was significantly shaped by his homosexuality as well. He was always a radical outsider in a bourgeois society.After starting his career in theater as an actor, scriptwriter and director, he made his first feature film, Love Is Colder Than Death,in 1969. Fassbinder was a multitalented genius; he directed films and plays, wrote screenplays and radio dramas, made documentaries and fiction films of all lengths and was also an actor.

40 FILMS IN 13 YEARS: WHY FASSBINDER IS UNFORGETTABLE

Love Is Colder Than Death

Love, death and coolness: These three elements would characterize Rainer Werner Fassbinder's entire life and work. The young Bavarian director was only 23 when his first feature-length film was released in German theaters. "Love Is Colder Than Death" premiered at the Berlinale, Berlin's international film festival, in 1969.

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A deep understanding of the media

Along with his artistic versatility, Fassbinder always aimed to develop something completely different, points out Michael Töteberg, who wrote different books on the filmmaker. "He created in many different media forms, but always with a specific understanding of each medium," the film expert told DW. He would never make a film out of a play or simply turn a TV series into a film, for instance.


'The Stationmaster's Wife' with Kurt Raab, one of Fassbinder's favorite actors

If he did make two versions of a project for the big and the small screen, such as The Stationmaster's Wife, they differed enormously, adds the author.

The fact that Fassbinder developed a new perspective for each project is what Töteberg finds exciting about his work, even though that's not what he's best remembered for. Once a filmmaker is ranked among the classics, then "a certain image of this person sticks," the film expert says. Fassbinder is mainly known for his cinematic melodramas about German history, and Töteberg observes that anything that doesn't fit in this framework tends to be left aside, even though the director's work was very extensive and diverse.

Breakthrough in Cannes

The film expert believes Fassbinder's significance was recognized earlier abroad than in Germany and that he was probably better understood there as well.

Fassbinder expert Michael Töteberg

Fassbinder celebrated his international breakthrough at the Cannes Film Festival in 1974 with Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, which won different awards there. Töteberg notes that the German's films also received early praise in the US, and it's only following Fassbinder's international success that people in his home country became aware of his artistic genius. Still today, "the image of Germany abroad is clearly shaped by Fassbinder," says the author.

But did Fassbinder's tumultuous lifestyle and drug abuse and his reputation of having an extreme temper on film sets and of insulting friends damage his image as an artist? There is certainly something to it, says Töteberg, who, however, finds that "the cliché of the ingenious monster" isn't particularly helpful to better understand the Fassbinder phenomenon.

A unique perspective on Germany

Fassbinder was way ahead of his time on many issues. Töteberg cites sexuality as an example: "At the time he directed In a Year of 13 Moons (1978), who had actually heard of transsexuals outside of fringe groups?"

Volker Spengler portrays a transsexual woman in the 1978 drama 'In a Year of 13 Moons'

Fassbinder's cinematic take on politics, history and current events was also singular. He could not be defined as part of a specific camp, says Töteberg: "He never did propaganda, whether for left-wing or other politics; he always kept a distanced and critical position to the social movements of his time." In this respect, he didn't have any illusions and wasn't naïve about what was happening in Germany at the end of the 1960s-1970s.

Fassbinder never wanted to live up to expectations: "Whenever he had a commercial success, then the next film he made was a rather disturbing one," says Töteberg. "And when people thought: 'Oh, he's really become an arthouse director now,' then he'd do something for the mainstream. That was his way of being consistent!"

A director to discover and rediscover

Today, 75 years after his birth, there is still a lot about Fassbinder to be discovered. Some of his films disappeared for a long time, in some cases for legal reasons. Some of them have only recently been rediscovered and restored.

Despite his tremendous creative output, the director didn't consider himself a genius at all: "Fassbinder always said: 'I make things out of things. I'm not that productive myself.'" But, Töteberg adds, "the way he seized these things so productively, that's what is fascinating about him."



THE INFLUENTIAL RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER
Early death of a cinema great

Fassbinder is one of the most important film directors of Germany's post-WWII era. He died in 1982 at age 37, yet in his short life span he made 44 movies. While influenced by his predecessors, his films were unique, earning him a place in international cinematic history and influencing a subsequent generation of directors around the world.

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ESSENTIAL FASSBINDER HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FANTASY; FOX & FRIENDS

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Fassbinder's "Fox And His Friends," a timely homoerotic, anti ...

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May 9, 2017 - Fassbinder's "Fox And His Friends," a timely homoerotic, ... part of the fool, underlining the absurdity of Eugen's fancy fam and West German liberal ... And besides, the autobiographical parallels to Fassbinder's life ... Classifieds · Place an Ad · Contact us · Privacy Policy · Do Not Sell My Info · TAG disclosure.

Fox and His Friends (1975) | The Criterion Collection

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Fox and His Friends is unsparing social commentary, an amusingly pitiless and ... Rainer Werner Fassbinder; Germany; 1975; 124 minutes; Color; 1.37:1 ...

Fox And His Friends | The New Yorker

https://www.newyorker.com › goings-on-about-town › movies › fox-friends

FOX AND HIS FRIENDS, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1975 ... (Many of the details are autobiographical.) ... documentary “No Maps on My Taps” and the 1943 musical comedy “Stormy Weather,” which features an entire cast of black performers, ..

Rainer Werner Fassbinder: 10 essential films | BFI

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Aug 21, 2018 - Fassbinder's favourite target is the moral bankruptcy that he saw as prevalent in West ... My subject is the exploitability of feelings, whoever might be the one exploiting them. ... Watch Fox and His Friends online on BFI Player .

The Criterion Channel: The 50 Best Movies to Stream First

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Apr 16, 2020 - More Fassbinder on the Criterion Channel: The American Soldier, Berlin ... Fear of Fear, Fox and His Friends, Gods of the Plague, Katzelmacher, Lola, Love Is ... living filmmaker, and this 1992 autobiographical work is his best film. ... Spielberg, and Coppola are asked about their favorite films of all time, The ...

HE WAS QUEER AND A SMOKER

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Ballhaus was known for his work on Academy Award winning films "Goodfellas" and "The Departed." He also served as the Head of Jury at the 40th Berlinale Film Festival. (12.04.2017)

Revisiting Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the cult director of New German Cinema

Rainer Werner Fassbinder started directing in 1966. It was the beginning of an exceptionally productive career. He would direct 44 works in 17 years. A new comprehensive picture book covers the entirety of his oeuvre. (19.07.2016)

10 Bavarian filmmakers

For many cinema enthusiasts, Munich is Germany's secret film capital — although not everyone in the country would agree. But many great directors were in fact born in Bavaria. Here's 10 great Bavarian film directors. (03.07.2018) 

FASSBINDER, BRAD DAVIS, ANDY WARHOL

Date 29.05.2020
Author Jochen Kürten (eg)
Related Subjects Rainer Werner Fassbinder, New German Cinema
Keywords Film, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, New German Cinema

Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3cr7k


Who was Rainer Werner Fassbinder and why did he become a queer film icon?
06 APR 2017

STEFANIE GERDES

The morning of 10 June 1982, at 3.30 am, Juliane Lorenz entered her bisexual boyfriend’s bedroom uninvited.

She could hear the television, but not her partner’s snoring.

When Lorenz opened the door, she found his lifeless body; he still had a cigarette between his lips, and there was a fine trickle of blood running from one nostril.

His death was later given as cardiac arrest, caused most likely by a deathly mixture of being overworked and cocaine, sleeping pills, and alcohol.

Her partner was acclaimed German director, writer, producer, and actor Rainer Werner Fassbinder. He was one of the most important members of the New German Cinema movement.

Now, London’s BFI have dedicated an entire film festival to the queer filmmaker and his art. Through to 31 May, they are showing a great part of his repertoire, including the classics Fear Eats The Soul, Berlin Alexanderplatz, and queer favorite Querelle.

Throughout his life, Fassbinder was followed by a whole lot of controversy – and his passion for film, which had started young.

Born on 31 May 1945, three weeks after Germany’s unconditional surrender, Fassbinder claimed he was born in 1946 for nearly his entire life. He did so in compliance with his mother’s wishes, because it would enhance her son’s status as a cinematic prodigy.

After his parents divorced, Fassbinder’s mother Liselotte Pempeit raised him as a single parent. Faced with the task of having to support herself and her child she worked as a translator.

To be able to concentrate, she sent Fassbinder to the cinema where he said he saw at least one new film every day, but sometimes as many as three or four.

Because Pempeit suffered from tuberculosis she was often away for long periods of time; during those absences, friends and tenants looked after her son.

But it also made him independent and, as some say, uncontrollable. So much so, he clashed with his mother’s lover as well as his later stepfather.

When he reached his teens, his parents sent him to boarding school. Fassbinder repeatedly attempted to escape, but never succeeded.

Aged just 16 he finally quit school, before his final examinations, and moved to Cologne to live with his father.

Despite dropping out, the teenager continued to educate himself through studying philosophical and psychoanalytic writings, as well as social criticism.

He was already beginning to write plays and poems at the time, as well as short stories. His biggest passion, though, was film.Fassbinder’s grave in MunichPIN IT

But getting to the top was hard work.

Fassbinder attended two years of private acting lessons and acting school, yet he failed the national acting exam. He also failed to make it into film school, which prompted him to return to his hometown of Munich to continue his writing.

At the age of 22, Fassbinder finally got a foot in the door when he joined Munich’s Action Theater.

Two months later, he was leading the company. The following year, in April 1968, he directed the premiere of his first independent play, titled Katzelmacher.

It tells the story of a Greek immigrant to Germany who becomes the target of intense racial, sexual, and political hatred for a group of Bavarian slackers.

Another year later, in 1969, a film version of Katzelmacher marked Fassbinders breakthrough as a filmmaker.

It also marked the Action Theater’s end. The group disbanded after one of its founders wrecked the theater, because he was jealous of Fassbinder and how powerful he had become as an artist.

Parts of the ensemble reassembled to form the ne antiteater (anti-theater). Some of them, like Hannah Schygulla, would later become some of Fassbinder’s most important actors.

Fassbinder continued his work, directing 12 plays over the course of 18 months. Four of those were his own works; five more were rewrites.

At the same time, he also continued his film work.

Between 1969 and his death in 1982, Fassbinder produced 41 alternative films, including classics like Jailbait, Fox and His Friends, and Querelle.

The key to his immense output? Fassbinder knew the people, actors as well as technicians, he was working with incredibly well.

The well-oiled machine of a team allowed him to produce four to five films a year, at an extremely low budget.

His films speak of Fassbinder’s stage career, and display similar aesthetics.

On stage, Fassbinder’s work defied tradition and standards. He drew inspiration from musical and cabaret as much as from the student protest movement, especially for his stage work.

In the finished material, it made for a disctinct aesthetic of mixing choreographed movements and static poses. His use of color also became iconic.



While working on films he was not limited to just writing or directing. Instead, Fassbinder taught himself how to do nearly every step in the production process. As a result, he often also served as the composer, producer, production designer and editor of his films.

But wherever he went, controversy followed.

Sometimes, it was because of controversial and provoking remarks he made in interviews.

But very often, it was also sparked by Fassbinder being seen in gay bars in New York, or bath houses in Paris.

In his youth, he identified as gay; later, he had sexual relationships with both men and women.

And he did not keep his professional and personal lives apart. Fassbinder was known for casting friends, family, and lovers in his films.

In some cases, like that of Günther Kaufmann, it was the director’s way of wooing people.

Fassbinder also claimed he opposed matrimony, yet he married Ingrid Caven. Their wedding reception later appeared on screen in The American Solider.

After two years, the couple split. Caven knew about Fassbinder’s sexuality, describing him as ‘a homosexual who also needed a woman. It’s that simple and that complex.’

Like Caven Fassbinder’s female partners, Irm Hermann and Juliane Lorenz, were not disturbed by their husband’s sexual orientation. The three women are often considered the most important women in his life.

In the end, his relentless work ethic led Fassbinder to consume drugs and alcohol, in a bid to sustain himself.

On the night of his death, Fassbinder was working, as usual. He had guest stay over at his apartment, too: Wolf Gremm, who directed Kamikae 1989.

Early in the evening, the filmmaker retired to his bedroom, to work on a future film about Polish-German anti-war activist Rosa Luxemburg.

Shortly after 1 in the morning, he received a phone call from Harry Baer, his friend and assistant.

When Fassbinder was found dead two and a half hours later, the notes for Rosa L were found next to his body.