BERLIN

Film

Berlin Documentary Forum 1

Watch Lebanese artist Rabih Mroué perform, hear Nigerian-American writer Okwui Enwezor read, and see two films by recently deceased German director Michael Mrakitsch Wednesday in Berlin. Wednesday’s opening event kicks off five days of documentaries that highlight “practices across disciplines” like the visual arts and literature.

Price: Free (Opening); €6 (Single Ticket); €12 (Day Ticket); €45 (Festival Ticket)

Location: House of World Cultures, John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10

Times: Wednesday, June 2, 6:30pm (Opening); through Sunday, June 6

Tickets: 030 39 78 7175

More Information: www.hkw.de

Galleries/Museums

Jan Imberi – Trift

As an artist who grew up in the Black Forest, it’s only natural that Jan Imberi would form a close relationship with landscape. Through sculpture, video, and photography, Imberi ponders humanity’s understanding of things like forests. For his first solo exhibition, Imberi sailed forty trees up the River Spree to Kreuzberg, where his sculpture now stands. See the accompanying visuals at Laura Mars Gallery, a ten-minute walk away.

Price: Free

Location: Cuvry Strasse 1 (Sculpture); Laura Mars Gallery, Sorauer Strasse 3 (Photos/Videos)

Times: Tuesday – Sunday, 1-7pm; Saturday, 12-4pm; through June 30

Phone: 030 610 74 630

More Information: www.lauramars.de

Istja Itho – Berlin Windows

If windows are the eyes of a house, and eyes are the windows to the soul, than windows are the souls of the city. See the Berlin windows that caught photographer Istja Itho’s eye in this exhibition at the Charlottenburg Museum. And bring your own photo of your favorite window, because even if you don’t win the prize, your shot will at least be included in the next exhibition.

Price: Free

Location: Museum Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Schlossstrasse 69

Times: Tuesday – Friday, 10am-5pm; Sunday, 11am-5pm; through August 1; Photo submission deadline – June 18

Phone: 030 90 29 13201

More Information: www.museum-charlottenburg-wilmersdorf.de

COLOGNE

Opera

Richard Wagner – The Ring Cycle

Acclaimed opera director Robert Carson’s rendition of Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” is an updated version of that epic opus. Witness “Das Rheingold,” “Die Walküre,” “Siegfried,” and “Götterdämmerung” at Cologne Opera starting Tuesday.

Price: €24 – 74

Location: Oper Köln, Offenbachplatz

Times: Tuesday, June 1 – Sunday, June 13

Tickets: 0221 2212 8400

More Information: www.operkoeln.com

Music/Concerts

Anoushka Shankar Project 2010 – Sudakshini

Indian classical meets western experimental in the Anoushka Shankar Project. The celebrated sitarist brings her eclectic group to the Cologne Philharmonic Monday.

Price: €25

Location: Kölner Philharmonie, Bischofsgartenstrasse 1

Times: Monday, May 31, 8pm

Phone: 0221 204 080

More Information: www.koelner-philharmonie.de

Galleries/Museums

From Marlar to Schöne Marie – 150 Years of the Cologne Zoo

Learn about the history of Germany’s third oldest zoo. This year, Cologne Zoo celebrates its 150th anniversary and a special exhibition at the City Museum highlights major events like the arrival of the first rhinoceros “Schöne Marie,” in 1872, and the birth of Marlar the baby elephant in 2006.

Price: €5

Location: Cologne City Museum, Zeughausstrasse 1-3

Times: Friday, May 28. 6pm (Opening); Tuesday, 10am-8pm; Wednesday – Sunday, 10am-5pm; through August 29

Phone: 0221 221 25789

More Information: www.museenkoeln.de

DÜSSELDORF

Galleries/Museums

Julian Schnabel – Polaroids

These aren’t your ordinary Polaroids. First of all, they’re taken on a 1970s 20×24-inch camera on wheels. And then there’s the subject matter. Shots of Schnabel’s buddies like Lou Reed and Mickey Rourke are peppered in among shots of private rooms in the artist’s New York lair, Palazzo Chupi. See all 100 of them when the exhibition opens Sunday.

Price: €7.80

Location: NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, Ehrenhof 2

Times: Tuesday – Sunday, 11am-8pm; Friday, 11am-midnight; May 30 – July 11

Phone: 0211 89 266 90

More Information: www.nrw-forum.de

FRANKFURT

Film

Cuba in Film Festival

Eleven nights of Cuban films culminate next Saturday with a screening of the Wim Wenders documentary Buena Vistas Social Club. Until then, check out Enrique Pineda Barnet’s La Bella del Alhambra, Mayckell Pedrero Mariol’s Revolution, and other groundbreaking works of Cuban cinema.

Price: €6

Location: Filmforum Höchst, Emmerich-Josef-Strasse 46a

Times: Tuesday, May 25 – Saturday, June 5

Tickets: 069 2124 5714

More Information: www.cubafilm.de

Events

Städel Art Music

Frankfurt’s Städel Museum poses the question: Can you dance to art? Of course you can! Show them what’s up Saturday night when the museum hosts an art dance party extravaganza. DJs Steph and Amin Fallaha and British singer James Kakande provide just the right tunes for rocking to the artwork of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.

Price: €10

Location: Städel Museum, Schaumainkai 63

Times: Saturday, May 29, 8pm

Phone: 069 605 0980

More Information: www.staedelmuseum.de

HAMBURG

Film

International Short Film Festival

There’s something really special about short films, and this acclaimed festival likes to highlight that fact, placing the genre into an art form all its own. Filmmakers from Germany, Hungary, Norway, Iran, South Korea, the USA, and beyond present some truly eye opening stories in a program of 300 brief but striking cinematic works.

Price: €6 (Festival Cinemas); €3.50 (Mo&Friese Children’s Short Film Festival); €25 (Five-Screening Pass)

Location: Various

Times: Tuesday, June 1 – Monday, June 7

Ticket Hotline: 040 39 10 63 134

More Information: festival.shortfilm.com

MUNICH

Dance

Dance Breaks in Bavaria – Modern Jive, Munich & More

Combine modern jive and west coast swing workshops with a little Bavarian culture. Instructors from the UK, New Zealand, France, and Germany teach you dance skills in the morning, then when night falls, you can practice in the city’s open air beer gardens after a few brews.

Price: €40 (One Day); €60 (Two Days)

Location: Dance Terminal 1, Adolf-Kolping-Strasse 10

Times: Friday, May 28 – Sunday, May 30

More Information: www.jivin-munich.de