DE 1931, D, C, E, P Ella Bergmann-Michel, SC Ella Bergmann-Michel, Mart Stam, Print b/w, 35mm, silent, 13 min, DFF - Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum

“Bergmann-Michel’s WO WOHNEN ALTE LEUTE? provides an excellent example of an appropriate solution to the urgent housing question. It shows a model retirement home, built by architect Mart Stam for Frankfurt Main. The film is intended to advance this important topic throughout the world.” (“Neue Filme vom Bauen”, Kunst und Volk, Issue 5, January 1932) The building design was titled “Collective”. Ella Bergmann-Michel is especially interested in the moments of social interaction: like the residents, she permits herself to be guided by the possibilities and departures which the open interior design presents. “A cheerful interweaving of rooms; the windows allow the covered walkways and chat rooms to glide into each other. A promotional film without gimmicks, a filmed primer that combats prejudice.” (Frankfurter Zeitung, 15 January 1932)

DE 1932, D, SC, C, E Ella Bergmann-Michel, P Ella Bergmann-Michel, Paul Seligmann, Print b/w, 35mm, silent, 9 min, DFF - Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum

“A documentary film about the relief organisation that supported Frankfurt’s kitchens for the unemployed. The film screened in all cinemas in Frankfurt in September 1932 to kick off a major public donation campaign. The Frankfurter Zeitung wrote: ‘This film demonstrates, in a simple and completely unadorned fashion, the wretchedness of the direst unemployed and penniless existence…’ It also demonstrates both the social importance and the organisation of the kitchens. […] The film’s guiding principle is ‘Everyone must help!’” (Ella Bergmann-Michel, The Getty Research Institute, 88-A256; 880303) “It is interesting that major film companies refused to produce a film such as this one about the kitchens for the unemployed, arguing that the costs for the lighting equipment alone would be too high. Frau Bergmann-Michel had to make the film on her own, despite great difficulties and on a very small budget.” (Volksstimme Frankfurt, 29 September 1932)

BRD 1985, D Jonas Geist, Joachim Krausse, Print digital, 42 min, absolut MEDIEN

Ernst May, named Frankfurt’s director of city planning in 1925, assembled a staff of young architects, planners and designers. With its wide-ranging aspiration to create a modern housing culture […] New Frankfurt distinguished itself as the most innovative major New Construction project of the 1920s. (DVD Booklet Edition Bauhaus - Das Neue Frankfurt, absolut Medien) 60 years later, in 1985, the filmmakers portray the New Frankfurt housing development from a historical perspective as well as from the point of view of its current users. Part 3, which we screen here, focusses on the Frankfurt Kitchen. Architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky explains the origin story of her concept in an interview; residents demonstrate its use in action; archival material and new footage reveal how the housing model and day-to-day living adapt to each other symbiotically.