This October, Hollywood’s historic Egyptian Theatre will play home to the German Currents Film Festival, bringing the cutting edge of German cinema to a West Coast audience and screening everything from arthouse films to blockbusters and children’s movies. The festival is a co-production of the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and the American Cinematheque, an LA nonprofit dedicated to film.

The centerpiece of the festival will be an appearance by renowned German director Andreas Dresen, who will open the festival with the LA premiere of his award-winning film, Gundermann, a biographical portrait of the extraordinary and contradictory life of East German singer/songwriter Gerhard “Gundi” Gundermann. The film, the winner of six German Film Awards, blends flashbacks, music, and drama to present an inspirational portrait of Gundermann that is a music film, a love story, and a film that courageously addresses guilt, entanglement, suppression, and, above all, Gundermann’s defiant spirit.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A and reception with Dresen, where he will address topics related to the artistic process as well as the historic significance of the film. As this year marks the 30^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Gundermann is an ideal film for engaging with the people and stories that defined this period in history.

Other films being screened at the festival include the LA Premiere of Writer-Director Sven Taddicken’s award-winning drama The Most Beautiful Couple, the US premiere of Writer-Director Christian Klandt’s offbeat comedy, Leif In Concert Vol. 2, Writer-Director Hans Weingartner’s acclaimed road movie, 303, and the US Premiere of Writer-Director David Nawrath’s German Film Award-winning dramatic thriller, The Mover.

In addition to the typical film program, viewers of all ages are invited to the Children’s Matinee, which is showing Katja Benrath’s inspirational film and winner of the German Film Aware for Best Children’s Film, Rocca Changes The World. The festival will also highlight the best in German short films in the Next Generation Short Tiger program.

The festival will take place from October 11-14 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Find more information on the German Currents Facebook and website and buy tickets here.