If you thought German New Wave of the 1970s was all about Fassbinder, Wenders and Herzog then think again. This was also the the time when cult filmmaker Roland Klick was making his dystopian punk rock odysseys, psychedelic westerns and youth-oriented crime dramas, and we are delighted to screen a selection of his incredible work – which is ripe for rediscovery.

Roland Klick (b. 1939) dared to make films like no one else in West Germany at the time. His great ambition was to make socially engaged films for a wider audience. He came up with a very simple, genius equation: Film + Audience = Cinema; and had the indefatigable enthusiasm of a cinéphile. He created films that were story and character-led, emotionally and visually intense, action-packed, highly cinematic, well-versed in genre, and always exploring new ground.

Celebrated as the new wunderkind of German Cinema after the release of Bübchen in 1968 he somehow never quite fulfilled his early potential. His films did reach an audience but they also stirred up controversy. He was meant to direct the international success Christiane F – We Children From Bahnhof Zoo (1981), but fell out with producer Bernd Eichinger. It should have been his big break, but sadly this never came and by the late 1980s he had withdrawn from directing for the cinema.

In spite of bad luck, bad timing and the constant struggle for funding, Roland Klick created a body of films that has earned him a loyal following and the respect of fellow filmmakers. These have ranged from Steven Spielberg, who invited him to Hollywood in the 70s, to El Topo director Alejandro Jodorowsky, who named Deadlock as an influence, and Quentin Tarantino.

The season kicks off with Klick’s gritty Hamburg-set small-time crook saga Supermarkt (Mon 18 Nov) captured by the dynamic camera of Jost Vacano (Das Boot, Robocop, Total Recall). Deadlock (Wed 20 Nov) is a glaring and relentless desert showdown inspired by Italian Westerns. With White Star (Mon 25 Nov) Klick returns to the Berlin of the 1980s, where Dennis Hopper, in one of his best performances, plays a washed-up music manager who cunningly exploits clashes between punk and synthpop camps to catapult his protégé to stardom. The season ends with a rare chance to see a selection of his punchy short films (Wed 27 Nov).

The Guardian’s Steve Rose says:

'Klick is a filmmaker so cult, even psych iconoclast Alejandro Jodorowsky cites him as an inspiration. Visionary, intrepid and uncompromising, Klick was a rising star of German cinema in the 1970s who made some strikingly bizarre films. Most of his best are on show here.’

Watershed’s Cinema Curator Mark Cosgrove says:

'I’m very excited that we are screening Klick’s best films here at Watershed and I urge you to grab your chance to see them, you won’t regret it.’

Into Unknown Territory is a Cambridge Film Festival touring programme in partnership with The Goethe Institute.

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