Each year, the Retrospective of the Berlin International Film Festival devotes itself to showcasing an important director or a topic relevant to film history. Organised by the Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen since 1977, this popular Berlinale section often gives younger viewers a first look at the oeuvre of a filmmaker, an epoch or a genre in a larger context, and provides confirmed cineastes with unexpected discoveries.

Entitled “The Red Dream Factory. Mezhrabpom-Film and Prometheus 1921 – 1936”, the 2012 Retrospective launches a long-term cooperation with The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Rainer Rother, Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kinemathek and Section Director of the Retrospective comments: “I’m extremely pleased to have our New York colleagues as our new partner. We share a long history of cordial relations. This new partnership will allow the Retrospective, which is frequently the outcome of extensive preparations over years, to reach more audiences worldwide.” In April 2012, MoMA will also present a large portion of this year’s programme under the title The Red Dream Factory. This will make it possible for audiences in New York to explore a little-known period of film history, one that, nevertheless, had a far-reaching impact on the development of cinematic language around the world.

In the future, the Berlin International Film Festival, the Deutsche Kinemathek and The Museum of Modern Art will cooperate closely in selecting themes and curating the Retrospective section. “This collaboration between MoMA, the Deutsche Kinemathek and the Berlinale represents the culmination of a decades-long tradition of cooperation and intellectual exchange between our institutions. The opportunity to jointly organize and present the Retrospective section at the Berlin Film Festival brings these efforts together in a coherent and highly visible manner. We are thrilled to announce this important new phase of our partnership,” says Rajendra Roy, The Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film at MoMA.

In the past, the Deutsche Kinemathek and MoMA have teamed up in a similar fashion on projects such as the film series East Side – West Side. Treasures from the MoMA Film Archives that screened in Berlin in 2004; and on the comprehensive presentation Weimar Cinema, 1919 –1933: Daydreams and Nightmares that was shown in New York in 2010/2011. The Berlin International Film Festival has also enjoyed close ties with The Museum of Modern Art, most recently, when Dieter Kosslick had the opportunity to present his vision of film, culture, cuisine and environment under the title Carte Blanche: Dieter Kosslick, the Culinary Cineaste successfully in New York this past summer.

“By cooperating with MoMA, we are expanding the Berlinale’s international network and increasing the sustainability of our commitment to explore film history,” comments Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick.