Der kleine Godard. An das Kuratorium Junger Deutscher Film

Little Godard

Retrospective 2024

In Little Godard. To the Production Board for Young German Film, Hamburg’s experimental filmmaker Hellmuth Costard used a Super 8 film system he developed himself that allowed for numerous Super 8 cameras to be synchronised to each other during filming. “Power to Super 8!” was the cry before video cameras became ubiquitous, a low-cost solution for amateurs and even independent professional filmmakers. The content of the film is bookended by an application for a subsidy in which Costard formulates his objection to using the screenplay to evaluate a potential film project… “Is it possible to make films in Germany today?” Jean-Luc Godard asked that question in 1978 when he was asked to evaluate an invitation to make a film in Hamburg. In the end, the film was not made. But Little Godard answers the question by demonstrating how movies are made here. On the set of the film Moritz, Dear Moritz, it uses the undisturbed sequence of events as the perfect backdrop to the moment during a break in filming when the director Hark Bohm rather alarmingly asks, “Where is my script?”

by Hellmuth Costard
with Hellmuth Costard, Marie-Luise Scherer, Jean-Luc Godard, Hark Bohm, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Ivan Nagel, Dieter Meichsner Federal Republic of Germany 1978 German, French 85’ Colour Documentary form | DCP: Deutsche Kinemathek

With

Hellmuth Costard
Marie-Luise Scherer
Jean-Luc Godard
Hark Bohm
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Ivan Nagel
Dieter Meichsner

Crew

Director	Hellmuth Costard
Screenplay	Hellmuth Costard
Cinematography	Bernd Upnmoor, Hans-Otto Walter, Hanno Hart, Hellmuth Costard, Herbert Jeschke, Winnie Wolf, Jochen Leydecker, Walter Huntenburg, Johann Roth
Editing	Susanne Paschen
Sound	Herbert Jeschke
Producer	Hellmuth Costard

Additional information

DCP: Deutsche Kinemathek