Reise nach Metropolis

The Journey to Metropolis

"Metropolis" is probably the most important work in German film history. And it was the first film to be declared World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO.

In summer 2008, a 16 mm dupe negative of a near-complete version of the film turned up in the Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires. A world-wide sensation, for the film had been cut and mutilated soon after its premiere. Not one of the 40 copies of the premiere version had survived. It became every ambitious film archivist′s self-imposed task to reconstruct the "original" of "Metropolis". But what exactly is the original in this case, when there are three different negatives of "Metropolis"? After the complicated restoration by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation in 2001, certainly no one counted on the missing parts being found one day.

The film "The Journey to Metropolis" is set in locations including Berlin, Moscow, Buenos Aires and Paris. It depicts the genesis of the world-famous cinematic classic, but also the often complicated ways in which experts have attempted to complete it.


Source: German films Service & Marketing GmbH