Happy Birthday, Erika Gregor!

Every evening at the Arsenal cinema, it’s impossible not to take a look at the first row: is Erika Gregor (hopefully) sitting at her usual spot, from where she follows screenings and events, greets guests – audience members and filmmakers alike – and always has questions on hand for any discussion? Her choice of seat is hardly random: close to the film and with the audience collected behind her, to whom she has always been finely attuned. How could it be any different for the curator who put together, organized and left a lasting mark on the cinema, Forum and publication program of the insitution she co-founded in 1963 (back then, Friends of the German Film Archive, now Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art) over many decades?   

We are very happy that on May 26th Erika Gregor will mark her 90th birthday by moving from the first row back to behind the microphone on stage to both curate and present excerpts from a series of films by Mark Sandrich, Dorothy Arzner, Giorgi Schengelaia, Slatan Dudow and Pier Paolo Pasolini for her birthday guests (everyone is invited!). The path this program charts through cinema is at once cheerful, full of fighting spirit, infectious and reflective and is to be grasped as a pars pro toto of Erika Gregor’s interests, saying a huge amount about her discoveries, preferences and thematic emphases as well as her programming principles. In short: the prospect of an illuminating, inspiring morning with films, Erika Gregor’s veritable treasure trove of knowledge, occurrences and stories (thanks to her phenomenal memory) and of course any number of birthday greetings from her Arsenal colleagues.     

What turned out wonderfully in 2019 for her 85th birthday is still a wonderful idea today: for anyone wanting to give Erika Gregor a gift in addition to their presence, she asks that a donation be made for purchasing film prints instead of flowers (a donation box will be available). She’ll be more than happy to talk about which prints were bought in 2019 as well as her infinite list of possible titles in person. Wine will be on hand!