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Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

Source: Jennifer Askey, 785-532-1922, jaskey@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.edu

Monday, Oct. 13, 2008

GERMAN FILMMAKER TO STOP AT K-STATE TO SHOW FILM ON ECUADOR

MANHATTAN -- Rainer Simon, director of some of East Germany's most noted films, will visit Kansas State University as part of a tour promoting the recent availability of many of his works in the United States.

Simon's 1989 film, "Die Besteigung des Chimborazo" or "The Ascent of the Chimborazo," will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, in 109 Justin Hall. The presentation is free and the public is invited A question-and-answer session with Simon will follow.

The film documents an 1802 expedition by Alexander von Humboldt to Chimborazo in Ecuador. At the time, Chimborazo, which had never been climbed, was thought to be the highest mountain in the world. Humboldt took along French doctor and botanist Aime Bonpland and Creole aristocrat Carlos Montufar. During the trip, the trio survived snow, cold and the thin mountain air to explore regions that no European had seen before.

Jennifer Askey, K-State assistant professor of German, said Simon will talk about how shooting parts of the film on location in Ecuador changed the way he saw German society.

"We are thrilled that we were able to bring a filmmaker of Simon's caliber to K-State," she said. "I am looking forward to seeing the film and having the opportunity to talk to a filmmaker who plied his trade in East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall and then, after German reunification, has spent most of his time outside of the country."

Simon's major films include "Till Eulenspiegel," in 1975, based on a film script by Christa and Gerhard Wolf; "The Airship," in 1983; "The Woman and the Stranger," in 1984, which was awarded the Grand Prize at the 1984 Berlin Film Festival; and "Jadup and Boel," in 1980, which was banned by officials until 1988.

Since shooting "The Ascent of Chimborazo," Simon's work has focused on the life and culture of the indigenous people of Ecuador.

The German section of K-State's department of modern languages teamed up with the foreign languages department at University of Missouri at Kansas City to bring Simon to the region. Simon's tour is sponsored by the Deutsche Film Aktiengesellschaft Foundation and the Deutsche Film Aktiengesellschaft Film Library at University of Massachusetts Amherst.