With cinemas in Berlin most likely staying closed for a couple more months, the shared experience of watching a movie together seems far out of reach right now. But if you can’t go to the movie theater, maybe the movie theater can come to you. This is the idea behind the new project Windowflicks. Using the backyard firewalls of residential buildings as a screening canvas they project movies that the entire house or neighborhood can enjoy from their windows or balconies. It’s such a simple idea, to give back the pleasure of watching a film together to the people in these strange and testing times.
The film program was kindly provided by the arthouse cinema group Yorck and includes beloved classics such as Himmel Über Berlin, The Artist, Shaun the Sheep, Loving Vincent and Berlin romantic comedy Cleo. At the moment, the movies are all screened subtitled without sound to not disturb any neighbors that don’t want to participate, but soon screenings with sound are planned as well.
But how can you get this screening into your own neighborhood? It’s quite easy. If you live in a house or block with at least 20 flats facing the same free wall you can send an eMail with a photo of the wall and your house to the contact on the website to apply. The organizers are currently offering these screenings for free as a symbol of solidarity and support for the many endangered arthouse cinemas in Berlin. But at the same time, they are also looking for commercial sponsors helping them to continue the project and also support the crowdfunding of yet another initiative called Fortsetzung Folgt.
We absolutely love this project and hope that many Berliners will take advantage of this opportunity. It’s such a great example of people are getting creative in times of a crisis and how the spirit of the community can not be extinguished so easily.
Here are the trailers of the current program:
