Please join us for a rare screening of Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment (Goya – oder der arge Weg der Erkenntnis), a 1971 East German film directed by Konrad Wolf. The screening will take place at the Light Box Film Center, 401 S Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19147.

Based on a novel by Lion Feuchtwanger, Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment is an East German depiction of the struggles faced by famed Spanish artist Francisco Goya as his loyalty to King and Church is tested. The artist’s personal demons emerge just as he begins to see the corruption and violence of the aristocracy and the Inquisition. Once removed from these destructive forces Goya embarks on his most critical and monumental period as an artist. (Konrad Wolf, East Germany, 1971, 132 min.) In German with English subtitles

Organized in conjunction with the Arthur Ross Gallery’s upcoming exhibition Goya: Prints from the Arthur Ross Collection. On the occasion of the Arthur Ross Gallery’s 40th anniversary, Goya: Prints from The Arthur Ross Collection references the gallery’s inaugural exhibition held in February of 1983 of a first edition of Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes’ series The Disasters of War (Los desastres de la guerra).

Image credit: Goya or the Hard Way to Enlightenment, dir. Konrad Wolf. DEFA Studio for Feature Films, 1971.