Book Launch and Edgar Reitz Special Directory of World Cinema: Germany Vol 2. Building on the material presented in the first instalment of the Directory of World Cinema: Germany, this volume explores a range of compelling and sometimes surprising German films. Included here is an in-depth treatment of the sports film that identifies a close interrelationship between sports, commerce, cinema, and politics from the 1920s to the present day. This is complemented by a focus on film adaptations of several German literary classics and the treatment of history as a cinematic spectacle in costume dramas. Also featured are some lesser-studied genres, including musicals, crime films, experimental films, and westerns, along with several of the so-called Eastern westerns produced in East Germany during the Cold War. Rounding out the volume are essays on key directors, including Fritz Lang and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and an overview of the Oberhausen short film festival. Directory of World Cinema: Germany 2 attests to the crucial importance played by genre films in the German film industry in the shaping and reshaping of national identity throughout the tumultuous twentieth century. Michelle will be joined by Dr Andrea Bandhauer (University of Sydney) and Mr Mark Steven (UNSW Australia) for a panel discussion on German cinema, past, present and future. After the book launch we will screen an exclusive skype interview with Edgar Reitz in which he will provide insight into the making of his new Heimat film Home from Home: Chronicle of a Vision (2013). The launch takes place amidst the Audi Festival of German Films and is proudly supported by the Goethe-Institut, Australien Michelle Langford is a Senior Lecturer in Film Studies in the School of the Arts and Media, UNSW Australia. When: 8 Apr 2014, 6pm – 7:30pm Venue: Goethe-Institut Sydney (90 Ocean Street, Woollahra) Who: Goethe-Institut Sydney, School of the Arts & Media Sources: