The Goethe-Institut Washington & JxJ Arts Festival Celebrate LGBT History And Yiddish Theater

Catch a glimpse into the history of the LGBTQ+ rights movement on the big screen and experience Yiddish theater brought to life at collaborative events presented by JxJ Arts Festival and the Goethe-Institut Washington!

The Goethe-Institut Washington is proud to partner with the Edlavitch Jewish Community Center of Washington, DC, for the JxJ Arts Festival, a multidisciplinary arts project that encompasses the Washington Jewish Film Festival and the Washington Jewish Music Festival alongside original cutting edge hybrid arts programming - all presented in one massive three-week experience, taking over the greater Washington region from May 8-26.

Goethe and JxJ have come together to present two film screenings with accompanying discussions that examine the life of Magnus Hirschfeld, a Jewish-German sexologist and early LGBTQ+ rights activist who led the charge against the criminalization of homosexuality in early 20th century Germany. The first film, The Einstein of Sex (Der Einstein des Sex), is a 1999 independent film by German director Rosa von Praunheim, following Hirschfeld and his cohort as they fight for queer rights from the turn of the 20th century to the rise of the Nazis. The second film, Different from the Others (Anders als die Andern), was written by Hirschfeld himself and directed by Richard Oswald. Released in 1919, this 100-year-old silent film is the first film ever to feature an openly-gay protagonist and convey a message of support to the LGBTQ+ community. Despite the Nazis' attempt to destroy the film, a substantial 50 minutes of it remain.

The Goethe-Institut will also host Edlavitch's Theater J for a Yiddish Theater Lab staged reading of Yankl the Blacksmith (Yankl der shmid), a 1906 play by David Pinski. The story follows a womanizing and charming drunkard named Yankl, whose recent marriage seemingly has an expiration date to everyone else in his village. The only person who truly knows that Yankl can make this marriage work - despite temptation and Yankl's occasionally boorish behavior - is his young wife, Tamara.

May 11, 1:00 PM

AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center

The Einstein of Sex (Der Einstein des Sex)

Dir. Rosa von Praunheim | 100 min.

Narrative Film | Germany | 1999

German with English subtitles

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May 16, 6:15 PM

Landmark's Bethesda Row Cinema

Different from the Others (Anders als die Andern)

Dir. Richard Oswald | 50 min.

Narrative Film (Fragmented) | Weimar Republic (Germany) | 1919

Silent Film with English Intertitles

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May 20, 7:00 PM

Goethe-Institut Washington

Yankl the Blacksmith (Yankl der shmid)

By David Pinski

Translated by Nahma Sandrow

Directed by Adam Immerwahr

Presented in partnership with Theater J

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