Streamed online June 23 through June 29
When she arrived in Paris in the early 1960s, German filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger discovered Fritz Picard’s Librairie Calligrammes, a bookstore frequented by students and intellectuals. The Librairie ultimately inspired her rich filmic expression—embracing contemporary and historical footage—of the city that shaped her, depicting a life energized by jazz clubs, cafés, studios, theaters, and even a street scene stirring deep artistic and political excitement. More than a personal memoir or artful paean to the City of Light, Paris Calligrammes is a visual poem that reveals the city’s rich bohemian past and evokes a culture that profoundly shaped the 20th century. “One of the great works of first-person cinema.”—Richard Brody. (Ulrike Ottinger, 130 minutes, 2020)