Bertelsmann and UFA present: The UFA Film Nights

The UFA Film Nights feature open-air screenings of milestones of German silent cinema in the historic center of Berlin, and the concept has proven extremely very popular. Since 2012, some 800 visitors have attended each of the three evening performances in August of each year to be surprised, thrilled and enchanted by these silent masterpieces.

Of course, the screenings are anything but silent. Each is accompanied by a musical performance that is worth an event in its own right. Whether a magnificent performance of the original film score by the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg, a completely new, fantastic soundtrack composed by the group Trioglyzerin, live improvised accompaniment on the piano by Neil Brand, or a set of modern electronic music assembled by a DJ: the interplay of music and film is always an intriguing experience.

As well as iconic classics of cinema history, such as the Expressionist masterpiece “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (in the lavishly, digitally restored version produced with Bertelsmann’s sponsorship in 2014), audiences are thrilled and moved by films with a direct relationship with Berlin such as “Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis” or “People on Sunday.” The film settings themselves are often just round the corner from what is possibly the city’s most beautiful temporary open-air cinema in the city.

After all, the setting is what gives these extraordinary evenings the finishing touch: the Film Nights take place in the heart of Berlin and the interaction between the film, the music and the historical backdrop makes a visit to the UFA Film Nights a truly memorable experience.

Films presented to date

August 23, 2024
Ernst-Lubitsch-Double-Feature:
Kohlhiesel‘s Daughters (1920)
Music: Metropolis Orchester Berlin, Composition: Florian C. Reithner
Ich möchte kein Mann sein (I don’t want to be a man) (1918)
Music: Florian C. Reithner and Maria Reich with the Ensemble Narrativ

August 22, 2024
Die Stadt der Millionen. Ein Lebensbild Berlins (Berlin: A City of Millions) (1925)
Director: Adolf Trotz
Music: DJ Raphaël Marionneau

August 21, 2024
Saxophon-Susi (Suzy Saxophone) (1928)
Director: Carl Lamač
Music: Frido ter Beek and The Sprockets

August 25, 2023
Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler II – Inferno. Ein Spiel von Menschen unserer Zeit (Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler II) (1922)
Director: Fritz Lang
Music: Moritz von Oswald

August 24, 2023
Wo ist Coletti? (Where is Coletti?) (1913)
Director: Max Mack
Music: Metropolis Orchester Berlin, Composition: Richard Siedhoff

August 23, 2023
Schatten (Warning Shadows) (1923)
Director: Arthur Robison
Music: Cameron Carpenter

August 26, 2022:
Die keusche Susanne (Chaste Susanne) (1926)
Director: Richard Eichberg
Musik: Silent Light Ensemble

August 25, 2022:
Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler I (Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler I.) (1922)
Director: Fritz Lang
Accompaniment: Jeff Mills

August 24, 2022:
Der Berg des Schicksals (Mountain of Destiny) (1924)
Director: Arnold Fanck
Accompaniment: Metropolis Orchester Berlin, composition by Florian C. Reithner

August 27, 2021:
Nosferatu (1922)
Director: Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Accompaniment: Cameron Carpenter

August 26, 2021:
Die Leuchte Asiens (The light of Asia) (1925)
Director: Franz Osten
Accompaniment: Trioglyzerin

August 25, 2021:
Carmen (1918)
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Accompaniment: New composition by Tobias Schwencke based on motifs from Georges Bizet’s eponymous opera, commissioned by ZDF/Arte. Performed by ensemble KONTRASTE

Due to the  Corona pandemic, the UFA Film Nights 2020 were only streamed online

August 22, 2020:

Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (1926)
Director: Lotte Reiniger
Accompaniment: Trioglyzerin

August 21, 2020:
Menschen am Sonntag (People on Sunday) (1929/1930)
Director: Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer
Accompaniment: DJ Raphaël Marionneau

August 20, 2020
Frau im Mond  (Woman in the moon) (1929)
Director: Fritz Lang
Accompaniment: Jeff Mills

August 23, 2019
Madame Dubarry (1919)
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Accompaniment: Ekkehard Wölk and the Ensemble Ancien Régime

August 22, 2019
Frau im Mond - Woman in the Moon (1929)
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Accompaniment: Jeff Mills

August 21, 2019
Eine tolle Nacht - A Crazy Night (1926/27)
Director: Richard Oswald
New composition by Frido ter Beek and Maud Nelissen, accompaniment: Filmorchestra The Sprockets

August 24, 2018:
Apaches of Paris (1927)
Director: Nikolai Malikoff
Accompaniment: Maud Nelissen and  „The Sprockets“

August 23, 2018:
Sumurun (1920)
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Accompaniment: Trioglyzerin

August 22, 2018
The Fiddler of Florence (1925/26)
Director: Paul Czinner
Accompaniment: I solisti di Francoforte

August 24, 2017:
Metropolis
Director: Fritz Lang
Accompaniement: Jeff Mills

August 23, 2017:
The Last Laugh (1924)
Director: F.W. Murnau
Accompaniement: UFA Brass

August 22, 2017
The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927)
Director: G.W. Pabst
Accompaniement: WDR Rundfunkorchester

August 26, 2016:
Der müde Tod - Destiny (1921)
Director: Fritz Lang
Accompaniment: DJ Raphael Marionneau

August 25, 2016:
Unheimliche Geschichten - Uncanny Stories (1919)
Director: Richard Oswald
Accompaniment: Northern Lights

August 24, 2016:
Die Bergkatze - The Wild Cat (1921)
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Accompaniment: Trioglyzerin and JazzCombo (Deutsche Oper Berlin)

August 22, 2015
The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)
Director: Lotte Reiniger
Accompaniment: Trioglycerin

August 21, 2015
Her Dark Secret (1928)
Director: Johannes Guter
Accompaniment: Neil Brand

August 20, 2015
Tabu (1931)
Director: Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Accompaniment: Florian C. Reithner with the UFA Film Orchestra

August 23, 2014
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919/20)
Director: Robert Wiene
Accompaniment: Soloist Ensemble from the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg

August 22, 2014
Faust (1925/26)
Director: Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Accompaniment: Stephen Horne and Kristoff Becker

August 21, 2014
The Golem: How He Came Into the World (1920)
Director: Paul Wegener, Carl Boese
Accompaniment: The German Film Orchestra Babelsberg

August 17, 2013
Secrets of the Orient (1929)
Director: Alexander Volkoff
Accompaniment: Trioglyzerin

August 16, 2013
People on Sunday (1930)
Directors: Robert Siodmak, Edgar Ulmer
Screenplay: Billie Wilder (sic!)
Accompaniment: DJ Raphael Marionneau

August 17, 2013
The Nibelungen – Part 1: Siegfried (1924)
Director: Fritz Lang
Accompaniment: The German Film Orchestra Babelsberg

August 18, 2012
Spies (1927)
Director: Fritz Lang
Accompaniment: Neil Brand, grand piano

August 17, 2012
Asphalt (1928)
Director: Joe May
Accompaniment: Trioglyzerin

August 16, 2012
Double Feature:
Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (1920)
Director: Walther Ruttmann
and
Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (2001/2002)
Director: Thomas Schadt
Accompaniment: The New Chamber Orchestra Potsdam