Die neue Zeit

New York, 1963: Architect Walter Gropius talks to journalist Stine Branderup in his apartment. Gropius, who's been an American citizen since 1944 and is now 80 years old, looks back on an eventful career. Branderup, however, accuses him of having inhibited the women at the Bauhaus. Gropius defends himself against this accusation. He talks about the early years of the state Bauhaus, about the efforts to rejuvenate art and society, and about Dörte Helm, a student within his inner circle at the Bauhaus who resisted all constraints and who, with his encouragement, followed her own path. The conservative middle-class establishment, on the other hand, mistrusted the Bauhaus at first, then openly rejected it. (Filmfest München)