Wings of Desire (Himmel über Berlin)

October 2nd
Director: Wim Wenders, 1987
Popcorn and drinks provided

The Annual Commemoration of Kristallnacht

Testimonies of Kristallnacht read by Pitt Students, video excerpts from eyewitnesses and survivors, Music by Susanne Ortner-Roberts, clarinetist

In the past year, Ukraine has experienced tectonic changes in its internal and external orientation, with the fall of the fall of the authoritarian regime of Viktor Yanukovych, a de facto war with Russia leading to the loss of the most heavily ethnic Russian areas (Crimea and the heart of Donbas) and a new anti-Russian and pro-Europe constitutional majority in parliament. The lecture will address the political, economic, and regional constraints that the Ukrainian government is facing in seeking to reestablish legitimacy, recover territory, and implement cardinal changes.

Dr. Mark Karnes was drawn back to Africa— the continent where he spent five years fresh out of medical school—after retiring from a 25-year OB/GYN career in Michigan. He now lives and works in Ethiopia. He will talk about life as a doctor in rural Ethiopia, the chasm of health issues faced by women in Africa compared to America, and the struggles and joys he and his wife face living cross-culturally. Discussion and questions will follow.

Excrement was a hot commodity in the cities of nineteenth-century Japan. The widespread use of night soil as an organic fertilizer meant that residents of big cities such as Edo (Tokyo) and Osaka could sell their waste rather than dispose of it themselves. Thanks to this trade, early modern Japanese cities enjoy a reputation as remarkably green spaces, in which residents lived in salubrious harmony with nature.  Let us put poop into the modernizing city.

On November 9, 1989 Americans tuned into the nightly news to watch anchorman Tom Brokaw’s reports from West Germany. The Berlin Wall was coming down after 28 years as a symbol of the Cold War between East and West. On November 11, 2014, in recognition of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Wall, the European Union Center of Excellence and European Studies Center will host a roundtable panel of Pittsburghers who witnessed this momentous event. Audience participation is welcome.

*Director Andreas Voigt will attend the screenings of his films November 7-8. A discussion with the director will directly follow the screening. Popcorn and drinks provided.

Considered to be the most comprehensive documentation of events surrounding the 1989 Monday demonstrations in Leipzig, this film highlights the centerpiece of the citizens' movement that led to the fall of the Wall. As the only professional team able to film in Leipzig at the time, demonstrators were interviewed, as well as members of the citizens’ rights movement, officials and bystanders in East Germany’s peaceful revolution. Film Director Andreas Voigt will attend the screenings of his films November 7-8. A discussion with the director will directly follow the screening.