23

Screening on Film

Directed by Hans-Christian Schmid.
With August Diehl, Fabian Busch, Dieter Landuris.
Germany, 1998, 35mm, color, 99 min.
German with English subtitles.

A mystical thriller based on true events, 23 has been described as a German Trainspotting. In a time of increasing confusion and instability, nineteen-year-old Karl Koch uses his talent to hack into computer networks. Fueled by his obsession with Robert Anton Wilson’s cult novel Illuminatus! and, in particular, its worldwide conspiracy theory, Karl’s search takes control of his life. Nothing is as it seems as Karl is swallowed by drugs and paranoia, unable to abandon his all-consuming odyssey. Authentic in its details and hypnotically told.

September 16 – October 15, 1999

Premieres

January 17–February 28

From the Collection: Antonioni / Bertolucci / Olmi

February 2–April 27

The Complete Stanley Kubrick

February 13–23

Alain Kassanda, 2026 McMillan-Stewart Fellow

February 14–May 9

Community in Cinema

February 20

Growing Up Female, Second-Wave

March 6–April 18

Crime Scenes as History. Five Korean Films

March 13–21

The Lady and the Typewriter

March 27–April 24

Sixties Shinoda

April 3

23