Bayreuth Festival for Margrave Frederick and his wife, Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine (sister of Frederick the Great) in 1747. With its ample capacity and strong acoustics, the opera house was a good match for Wagner's vision. Second, the town of Bayreuth found itself outside of regions where Wagner no longer owned the rights to the performance of his own works, which he had sold off in 1864 in order to alleviate pressing financial concerns. Finally, the town had no cultural life that could offer competition to Wagner's own artistic dominance. The Festival, once launched, would be the dominant feature of Bayreuth's cultural landscape.
Berlin & Beyond Film Festival Berlin & Beyond Film Festival Berlin & Beyond Film Festival is an annual film festival based in San Francisco, California featuring new cinema from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Founded in 1996, the festival is a program of San Francisco's branch of the Goethe-Institut and has become one of the largest and most significant German-speaking film festivals outside of Europe. Notable guests have included Mario Adorf, Doris Dörrie, Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Hannelore Elsner, Anke Engelke, Florian David Fitz, Bruno Ganz, Tom Schilling, Aylin Tezel, Michael Verhoeven, and Wim Wenders. Annually, the festival welcomes over 10,000 people, and celebrates seasoned masters, up-and-coming new