Auf der anderen Seite der Leinwand - 100 Jahre Moviemento

On The Other Side Of The Screen - 100 Years Of Moviemento Cinema
The oldest motion-picture-theatre in Germany was also the world’s weirdest cinema. The film tells the story of a dozen or so insane Berliners and the everyday madness of running a cinema. In 1907 the film theatre “Kinomatographen Theater Topp” was opened, later famously known as the “Moviemento”. On its screen thousands of films were shown during the last 100 years. The greatest story took place behind the legendary mirror screen. Manfred Salzgeber changed this local cinema to an arthouse theatre / cinema. For the first time in Germany gay (queer) theatre groups performed on stage. The cult about the Rocky Horror Picture Show in this country started here. But most important of all: A great deal of film and musician artist carriers began here. Tom Tykwer, Blixa Bargeld, Wieland Speck, Dani Levy, Rosa von Praunheim, Rio Reiser, Claus Boje and Detlev Buck worked here as projectionist, program makers or came as regular guests. Although creatively successful, the film house was constantly struggling financially to survive. “On the other side of the screen” is a homage to that creative manic group of cinema enthusiasts.
by Bernd Sobolla Germany 2009 82’