What started as Martin Kagel’s idea for a scholastic conference about teaching German in the United States soon turned into a four-day film festival with roundtable discussions and guest speakers.

“I thought it was necessary to simply discuss and rethink this idea of what German culture is, and I wanted to have this discussion because our department is also changing,” said Kagel, the department head of German and Slavic studies.

Kagel began organizing “The Meaning of Culture” conference nearly a year ago to provide a forum for those in the department to talk about these morphing ideas of community.

“Everyone has very different notions of culture,” he said. “As Germany is changing as a country, this idea of culture becomes more and more important, and how do we represent it to American students?”

He cited one of the featured speakers, Dilek Güng�r, as a prime example of this shift. With her Turkish background and German upbringing, she mixes these two perspectives of politics and society in her writings, creating a new face for Germany’s citizens.

“The books that she writes would not have been considered German literature 20 to 30 years ago, and now in the 21st century, she is very representative of German writers that have lived and grown up in Germany,” Kagel said.

Güng�r will give a reading on Friday night and participate in the transnational studies roundtable discussion on Saturday.

The panels consist of six speakers and six topics ranging from music to culture to film.

Looking at the importance of film studies in the classroom, Kagel decided to ask a filmmaker to participate in the conference and asked Christine Haase for her input. Haase, a professor in the German and Slavic languages department, has taught classes focusing on German film, so she suggested Andreas Dresen.

“He is a brilliant director who gives a voice to ordinary people who usually would not be considered film worthy,” Haase said. “He shows people in all their humanness, their fears, their vanities, their despair, their joys, their loveliness, their pettiness, their hopes and their failures.”

After becoming familiar with his work, Kagel asked Dresen to participate, and he accepted. Working with Brigitta Hangartner at Athens Ciné, the four films of Dresen’s were chosen, and the director chose four movies that inspired his own pieces to show.

“I was intrigued by the idea and very happy to have Ciné be the host of such a festival,” said Hangartner, Ciné’s director.

Each movie will be shown multiple times throughout the weekend, but for a select few screenings, Dresen is set to be on hand introducing or discussing the films. Ideally, he wanted to introduce those by his colleagues and debate his own, but scheduling sometimes conflicted.

“He’s around to tell the audience why he selected the films and discussing his own work. He was interested in finding out what people here thought about it,” Kagel said.

Hangartner said his films are hard to find in the U.S.

“Having Dresen here will be a huge bonus to come to an understanding of his films on a deeper level, to get a prolonged glimpse at a different culture,” she said.

Dresen grew up in East Germany and attended film school during the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany. These themes are evident in his art, including his latest, “Summer of Berlin,” which revolves around two women’s struggle to find solace in their new country.

“Berlin,” along with Dresen’s “Grill Point,” “Night Shapes” and “The Policewoman,” are scheduled to show. Movies from Günter Reisch, Heiner Carow, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Konrad Wolf will be screened also.

“Go and see the films for a different cinematic experience and to learn something about contemporary Germany, but also just about what it means to be human,” Haas said.