It has been a hundred years since French writer André Breton proclaimed a “super-reality” in which radical freedom of thought and creativity would reign supreme. In his 1924 Manifesto of Surrealism, he argued for a fusion of dream and reality to reach a state free of constraint, aesthetics, or morality. For Breton, this was always about more than art. Surrealism was meant to extend into life itself. This is precisely where the Cinema Surreal film series at the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection comes in. Until 16.12.2026, the museum invites audiences every fortnight, on Wednesdays at 18h, to journey through the past and present of surrealist cinema. The program brings together key works that have shaped the genre alongside new productions — sometimes disturbing, sometimes playful, often hypnotic, but always beyond clear logic. Cinema Surreal is not conceived as a nostalgic retrospective, but as an invitation to rediscover cinema as a site of the unconscious.
The films open up spaces where time dissolves, objects take on lives of their own, and seemingly incompatible elements converge. Best of all, admission is free, and no registration is required. Just come, take a seat, and let yourself drift. At a time when clear answers are constantly demanded, Cinema Surreal deliberately turns toward the mysterious and reminds us how productive it can be to relinquish control, even briefly. Testing boundaries is also central to the work of designer, artist, and collector Peter Engelhardt, who is portrayed in the documentary film Peng. Von Augenblick und Ewigkeit (Peng. Of Moment and Eternity). At the screening on 18.02, viewers can immerse themselves in his world of more than 30,000 objects, defined by sharp contrasts. With a keen sense of rhythm and visual language, the film unfolds into a hypnotic cinematic space. It is a work that observes rather than narrates, and it’s precisely this quality that makes it so powerful. It’s safe to say, André Breton would have approved.
Text: Laura Storfner / Stills: Colaimages Alamy, Little Dream Pictures, Trigon Film
Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg, Schloßstr. 70, 14059 Berlin-Charlottenburg; map
Cinema Surreal film series until 16.12.2026, every two weeks on Wednesdays, starting at 18h. Admission is free. No registration required.
Next screening: 18.02.2026 18h “Peng. On the Moment and Eternity.”
@staatlichemuseenzuberlin
