euro|topics - Bert Rebhandl

Rebhandl, Bert

4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - Germany | 26/09/2007

"The Edge of Heaven" by Fatih Akin

Bert Rebhandl reviews Turkish-German director Fatih Akin's new film "The Edge of Heaven," which is set in Turkey. "The 'quick and painless' formula which enabled Fatih Akin to storm German cinemas no longer applies, nor is the exalted pain of 'Head On' prolonged here. 'The Edge of Heaven' tells the story that can be told when pain has to be integrated into everyday life. In the role of Lotte Staub' mother, Hanna Schygulla takes on this task. She follows her daughter to Istanbul in search of a loss she could have felt in Germany, but which takes on tragic dimensions in Turkey... These scenes serve to highlight what has changed between 'Head On' and 'The Edge of Heaven'..:. In his new film, Fatih Akin finds a way to convey the experience of alienation in such a way that it is no longer defined primarily in cultural terms."

Der Standard - Austria | 10/04/2007

The last lap of the French presidential election campaign

In an interview with Bert Rebhandl, French philosopher André Glucksmann, who supports conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, attributes the success of centrist candidate Francois Bayrou to the "idealisation of rural France by both the left and right". "The third man, candidate Francois Bayrou, presents himself as a 'tractor', as 'the deep France'. Bayrou constantly stresses his country roots. However, from Proust we have learned that life in a village is also about cruelty, gossip and control. Bayrou embodies a kind of nostalgia. Not the Cannes Film Festival but the Agricultural Salon is France's most important festival. In France historians have always been what philosophers are in Germany. Since Michelet we have been living with an imaginary past. Bayrou is thriving on it."

Der Standard - Austria | 28/09/2006

Indignation over the cancellation of "Idomeneo" in Berlin

Bert Rebhandl examines the connection between culture and religion in Western society and concludes that artistic freedom should always be given priority. "Hans Neuenfels' concept is typical of the kind of theatre that has a relatively open approach to ideas. You can like it or not like it, but you can't prohibit it without good reason. Politicians like to back those who take the common sense approach. They condemn the extreme, yet it's precisely the extremely wide spectrum of opinion in an open society that culture should reflect... Many Muslims perceive the West as a cultural diaspora that offers too many options, and they're not drawn to it. They find their own form of culture in their religion. However, it would be wrong to try to impose restrictions on the unrestricted culture of liberal societies or to try to make it more compatible with religion. The question of the admissibility of an idea can only be decided within the free democratic context: producers, sponsors, critics and audiences must be left to sort it out among themselves."

Der Standard - Austria | 22/08/2006

An exhibition troubles German-Polish relations

Bert Rebhandl also uses the "Forced Departures" exhibition as an opportunity to examine German-Polish relations. "The exhibition goes to great pains to be politically correct and avoid at all costs giving the impression that it's just about the forced departures of Germans who lost their property in former East Prussia or their house on the Volga. The 20th century – and this is actually the main problem with the exhibition – was so turbulent that it's not always possible to describe the expulsions (or genocides, ethnic cleansing, religious conflicts and economic migration) as specifically 'national' phenomena… An exhibition on expulsion either has to take the difficult path which is to deal with how the subject was absorbed into ideology after 1945, or it adopts such a generalised approach that no one can take offence."

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