Beckett: Lieben 2026 - Film Screening: If I Fall Don't Pick Me Up

f I Fall, Don’t Pick Me Up, a film from Irish filmmaker  Declan Clarke, explores the relationship between iconic Irish author Samuel Beckett and renowned German theatre director Walter D. Asmus, and considers a legacy built on interpretation and performance: when the original actors have departed the stage, what remains?

Beckett and Asmus met in the early 1970’s and worked closely together for the last fifteen years of Beckett’s life. The film, shot entirely on 16mm film, reflects on their developing relationship through the written communications Beckett sent to Asmus – at first succinct and professional, but progressively more personal.

The true depth of their connection is more extensively relayed through the annotated theatre notes that were developed as Asmus directed Beckett’s work through the 1970s and 80s.

While Walter Asmus directed all of Beckett’s plays internationally – with the exception of ‘Play‘ and ‘Catastrophe‘ – their work together to bring, interpret, and present ’Waiting for Godot‘ to the stage is the most enduring legacy of their working relationship.

In 1988 Asmus directed what has come to be regarded as the definitive version of Beckett’s landmark play Waiting for Godot at The Gate Theatre, Dublin.

The film was commissioned by the Embassy of Ireland in Germany as part of Zeitgeist Ireland, a joint initiative of Culture Ireland and the Embassy to bring a season of Irish culture across Germany in 2024.

Following the screening, director Walter Asmus will be joined onstage by Professor Mark Nixon for a Q+A.