06/19/2026
COMING SOON! The final night of Park Theatre’s inaugural Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair will feature a screening of Uli Edel’s unflinching, harrowing portrait of a young German girl’s descent into addiction, CHRISTIANE F. Inspired by a true story, this title was selected by friend of the venue, Oscar-winning filmmaker Sean Baker, who will also be joining us in-person to offer an introduction.
Adapted from actress and musician Cristiane Felscherinow’s grim account of her teenage years, CHRISTIANE F. depicts the impact of West Berlin’s mid-to-late-70s he**in epidemic on one of its youngest and luckiest survivors. On the cusp of fourteen, David Bowie-worshipping Cristiane begins slipping out from under the watch of her divorced mother and spending time at hip discotheque Sound. There she falls in love with Detlev , whose recent experiments with he**in soon have her hooked.
Working with first-time actors and shooting on location with real-life regulars of Zoo Station’s notorious drug cruising scene, director Uli Edel unflinchingly captures the degradation of each phase of ju**ie life, from underage prostitution to brutal withdrawals to the seemingly endless vows to “go straight.” Bowie himself appears in a concert performance of “Station to Station”; the film’s soundtrack is a virtual compendium of the epochal musician’s celebrated “Berlin period” and a perfect sonic evocation of nightclubbing’s dark side.
“A sad, sordid look at the horrors of drug addiction, and ‘horrors’ is the operative word..” (New York Times)
June 25
6:30 pm
Consider buying a pass and check out the entire series June 19-25.
Complete showtimes (including encores!) and tickets 🎫 www.theparktheatre.ca
Sean Baker American Cinematheque Janus Films
