The LAYKA Lens continued with Comradeship (Kameradschaft), G. W. Pabst’s 1931 film classic. In partnership with our friends at the Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB), we discussed this gripping, literally groundbreaking film on October 8, 2020.
Set on the French-German border in the years following the First World War, Comradeship tells the story of a mine disaster and the underground effort to rescue the trapped miners that transcends borders of all kinds. Director G. W. Pabst brought together some of the greatest stars of the German stage, including the famed interpreter of Brecht and workers’ songs, Ernst Busch, and the Eastern Galician–born actor Alexander Granach (who we last saw in his over-the-top performance in Nosferatu).
We’ll discuss this moving and timeless film and continued our quarantine-long cinematic inquiry into questions of community, solidarity, and power.
This month, the panel for our discussion of Comradeship included:
Moderator: Boris Dralyuk
Executive Editor, Los Angeles Review of Books
Rob Adler Peckerar
Executive Director, Yiddishkayt
Deniz Göktürk
Professor, UC Berkeley
J. Hoberman
Critic and Author, New York Times, Village Voice
VIEW THE TRAILER
Watch a new trailer for Comradeship here. The film is available for streaming on Amazon or Apple TV.