Screening of the Movie A Coffee in Berlin in the Mystetskyi ArsenalAbout Us

Screening of the Movie A Coffee in Berlin in the Mystetskyi Arsenal

On November 9, the Goethe-Institut Ukraine will start a series of screenings of the classics of German cinema in Kyiv with the event in the Mystetskyi Arsenal, where at 4 p.m. visitors will have the opportunity to watch the iconic movie A Coffee in Berlin (the original title Oh Boy) directed by Jan-Ole Gerster. The movie will be shown in German with Ukrainian subtitles. This black-and-white tragicomedy has become a cultural phenomenon in Germany, a cinematic portrait of the generation which explores a personality and social changes in the dynamic yet ambiguous space of Berlin. Admission is free with prior registration. The registration deadline is November 8 at 14:00.

The unpretentiousness of everyday life, the disruption of routine relations, the mutual detachment of charactersthe movie tells the story of Niko, a young man who decides to drop out of the university and start an adult life, although he does not yet know what this really means.

The events in the movie unfold against the background of Berlin, which becomes a full-fledged character of this story. The city reveals its familiar and unusual sides to Niko: from atmospheric cafés to abandoned playgrounds.

The screening of the movie in the Mystetskyi Arsenal will take place on a significant day for Germany—November 9, the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, that has become one of the most important symbols of the unification of the country. The same as Berlin has undergone a radical transformation, the characters in the movie try to find themselves in the city that is constantly changing.

In addition to watching the movie, the participants of the event will have the opportunity to attend the new personal exhibition in the Mystetskyi Arsenal Olena Turyanska. Agape. Absolute Love. The artist’s holistic space is constructed in the five halls of the Arsenal building, where her own  memory, the memories of people she knows and their way of recording a story/stories have formed a narrative. Olena Turyanska conveys today’s statefear, fatigue, loss, traumaand ultimately the ability to find the strength to live and, despite everything, not to forget.

The screening of A Coffee in Berlin will open a series of events for the 30th anniversary of the Goethe-Institut Ukraine Cinema Beyond the Screen: Iconic German Movies in the City, which will run until November 13 and will be held in various spaces of Kyiv: the Sens bookstore, the Urban Space 500 café, the Dovzhenko Centre movie archive and the K41 club.


Goethe-Institut is a cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany, that operates in 98 countries of the world. It promotes studying the German language abroad, international cultural cooperation and the spread of a modern image of Germany. Since its foundation in 1993, the Goethe-Institut Ukraine has become one of the most important promoters of the Ukrainian educational and cultural landscape.

Mystetskyi Arsenal is a leading Ukrainian cultural institution that integrates various types of art in its activities—from contemporary art, new music and theater to literature and museum work. The mission of the Mystetskyi Arsenal is to contribute to the modernization of Ukrainian society and the integration of Ukraine into the world context, relying on the value-based potential of culture.