German Currents 2011 Brochure

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GOETHE-IN-LOS ANGELES

GERMAN CURRENTSNEw FilMS FRoM GERMANy loS ANGElES | october 26 - 30, 2011SAN DiEGo | october 22-23, 2011

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LOS ANGELESGERMAN CURRENTS

Dear Friends of German Cinema in los Angeles,

The annual German Currents film showcase organized by the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles will once again offer moviegoers in the epicenter of the film world the opportunity to enjoy the best of German cinema from the 2011 and 2010 seasons. German film has gained critical acclaim over the past de-cades, winning Hollywood’s highest honors and many other international awards. The quality and diversity of the films testify to the creativity and innovative talent of German film makers and the competitiveness of the German film industry.

I would like to thank the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles for organizing this event again this year. My appreciation also goes out to the American Cinematheque for hosting German Currents for the fifth year running and to the numerous partners from Germany and the U.S., whose generous contributions have made this film showcase possible.

From pop to politics, from the haunting to the whimsical, German Currents will deliver thought-provoking, highly aesthetic, and entertaining cinema.

See you at the movies!

Peter Ammon Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States

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loCATioNSEGyPTiAN THEATRE

6712 Hollywood BlvdHollywood, CA 90028

AERo THEATRE 1328 Montana Ave / at 14th St.

Santa Monica, CA 90403

GoETHE-iNSTiTUT loS ANGElES

5750 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 100Los Angeles, CA 90036

www.goethe.de/germancurrents

TiCKETSn Tickets to the screenings at

the Egyptian and Aero Theatres can be purchased at: www.fandango.com

Tickets are: $11 / general,

$9 / seniors, students

n Tickets to the screenings at the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles $5 / box office (cash) only

(FREE parking in the building)

GERMAN CURRENTS | loS ANGElES

Cover: lolliPoP MoNSTER

wednesday 10/26 7:30 p.m. opening Film & Party Egyptian Theatre Page 6

AlMANyA: wElCoME To GERMANy

Thursday 10/27 7:30 p.m. THE Poll DiARiES Aero Theatre Page 8

9:30 p.m JASMiN Page 9

Double Feature

Friday 10/28 7:30 p.m. THE DAy i wAS NoT BoRN Aero Theatre Page 10

9:30 p.m wESTwiND Page 11

Double Feature

Saturday 10/29 12:30 p.m. Panel: Co-PRoDUCER GERMANy Goethe-Institut LA Page 12

How to get your film funded

Saturday 10/29 7:30 p.m. iF NoT US, wHo? Egyptian Theatre Page 14

9:30 p.m SToPPED oN TRACK Page 15

Double Feature

Sunday 10/30 10:00 a.m. wiNTER’S DAUGHTER Goethe-Institut LA Page 16

Short: THE GRUFFAlo

Sunday 10/30 5:00 p.m. CHARloTTE RAMPliNG: THE looK Aero Theatre Page 18

Sunday 10/30 7:30 p.m. SlEEPiNG SiCKNESS Aero Theatre Page 20

9:30 p.m lolliPoP MoNSTER Page 21

Double Feature

Saturday 10/22 6:30 p.m. opening Film @ Reception MOPA Page 26

AlMANyA: wElCoME To GERMANy

Sunday 10/23 11:30 p.m. HANDS oFF MiSSiSSiPPi MOPA Page 27

Short: THE GRUFFAlo

Sunday 10/23 3:00 p.m. MAHlER oN THE CoUCH MOPA Page 28

Sunday 10/23 6:00 p.m. THREE MOPA Page 29

All movies are with English subtitles.

GERMAN CURRENTS | SAN DiEGo

New Films from Germany


loCATioN

MoPAMuseum of Photographic Arts

1649 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101Phone: 619 238 7559

TiCKETS

www.brownpapertickets.com$14 adults

$9 for kids 12 and under

URlwww.germancurrentssd.org

find us on facebook and twitter

All movies are with English subtitles.

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GERMAN CURRENTS | loS ANGElES New Films from Germany


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wednesday, october 26 @ 7:30 p.m. E G y P T i A N T H E A T R E

AlMANyA: wElCoME To GERMANy (ALMANyA: WILLkOMMEN IN DEUTSCHLAND)Germany/Turkey, 2011, 35mm, 101 min., German/Turkish with English subtitles

Composed in parallel structure, this light-as-air and colorfully punchy com-edy of manners focuses on generations of cultural misunderstandings inside a German-Turkish household. First set in contemporary day Germany, patri-arch Huseyin (Vedat Erincin) insists his entire family - including grown children and grandchildren - accompany him on a holiday to Turkey. Next set in 1964, young Huseyin arrives in Germany for the first time, with the unglamorous ti-tle of being the one-millionth-and-first guest worker in the country. As the two time periods switch back and forth, a constantly amusing portrait of a family with multiple national identities - and multiply confused identities - winning-ly forms.

Official selection of the Berlin International Film Festival 2011

LOS ANGELES

DiRECToR yasemin Samdereli

SCREENPlAy yasemin Samdereli Nesrin Samdereli

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Ngo the Chau

CAST Vedat Erincin Fahri yardim Lilay HuserDemeth GuelDenis Moschitto

PRoDUCTioN Roxy Film in co-production with Infa Film/Munich

woRlD SAlES Beta Cinema / Dept. of Beta Film GmbHAndreas [email protected]

yasemin Samdereli was born in 1973 in Dortmund. After graduating from the Academy of Television & Film in Munich she worked on various international film productions. Her films as a director include the shorts “Schluesselloecher” (1994), “Lieber Gott” (1996), “kismet” (2001), and “Sextasy” (2002), as well as the TV movies “Alles getuerkt” (2003), “Zivis” (2004), “Ich Chefe, Du nix” (2007). “Almanya” (2011), which she co-wrote with her sister Nesrin, is her theatrical feature film debut.

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LOS ANGELES

Thursday, october 27 @ 7:30 p.m. AERo THEATRE

THE Poll DiARiES (POLL) Germany/Austria/Estonia, 2010, 129 min., 35mm, German with English subtitles

It is the eve of World War I in Germany and 14-year-old Oda Schaefer (Paula Beer) - who would later grow up to be the famed Teuton poet - travels by train with two very unsettling items: her mother’s body in a coffin, and a two-head-ed fetus in a jar. This begins Oda’s journey to live with her father Ebbo (Edgar Sel-ge), a crackpot doctor living in a wonkily deformed house, who has fallen from grace among German scientists due to his seemingly gory and inhumane medi-cal methods. Filmmaker and former opera director Chris kraus elegantly shows us a community on the verge of war, where the bizarre and grotesque lurk in close quarters with the pure curiosity and kindness of a young girl. Winner of four German Film Awards.

Chris Kraus started out as a journalist and illustrator, before studying at the Ber-lin Film – and TV Academy (dffb). He collaborated with Volker Schloendorff and wrote the award-winning screenplay for Rosa von Praunheim’s” The Einstein of Sex”. kraus scored a notable success with his directorial debut, “Shattered Glass” (“Scherbentanz”, 2002), which was awarded two Bavarian Film Prizes, among many international awards. His second film, “Four Minutes” (“Vier Minuten”, 2006), won over 50 German and international prizes. In “The Poll Diaries”, kraus continues his tradition of introducing sensational young talents to the movie-going public: after Hannah Herzsprung in “Four Minutes”, it is now the turn of Paula Beer. (

DiRECToR Chris kraus

SCREENPlAy Chris kraus

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Daniela knapp

CAST Paula BeerEdgar SelgeRichy MuellerJeanette Hain Tambet Tuisk

PRoDUCTioN kordes & kordes Film GmbH/Berlin/Stuttgart in co-produc-tion with Dor Film, Amrion, SWR, BR, Arte, ARD Degeto and ORF

woRlD SAlES Bavaria Film International / Dept. of Bavaria Media GmbHThorsten [email protected]

“A genuinely thoughtful, deeply moving film about dualities, desire and mortality.” –Variety

D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E

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D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E

JASMiNGermany, 2011, 120 min., 35 mm, German with English subtitles

In director Jan Fehse’s relentlessly tense and absorbing drama, two women face each other in a room. One, forensic specialist and psychiatrist Dr. Fendt (Wiebke Puls), is trying to understand the seemingly incromprehensible psyche of the other woman, Jasmin (Anne Schaefer), and the horrid crime she’s com-mitted - the murder of her own 3-year-old daughter. Over the course of four days of harrowing interrogation, we accompany Jasmin on a journey into the heart of darkness, and begin to glimpse how the unimaginable came to pass and ended in catastrophe. Official selection of Filmfest Muenchen 2011.

DiRECToR Jan Fehse

SCREENPlAy Christian Lyra

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Jan Fehse

CAST Anne SchaeferWiebke Puls

PRoDUCTioN milk film GbR/Munich

woRlD SAlES milk film [email protected]

Jan Fehse was born in 1968 and is one of Germany’s most renowned DoPs. After working as a camera assistant, he was a DoP on feature and television productions as well as commercials and music videos. In 1995 Fehse cofounded the production company PICTURE PLANET. Since then, he shot 20 movies, 20 films for TV and over 200 commercials.In 2007 Jan Fehse had his directorial debut with “In jeder Sekunde” (“At any Second”) and was awarded the Bavarian Film Prize for best First Feature.“Jasmin“ is his second feature film.

LOS ANGELES

Thursday, october 27 @ 9:30 p.m. AERo THEATREU . S . P R E M i E R E

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LOS ANGELESD O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E

Friday, october 28 @ 7:30 p.m. AERo THEATRE

THE DAy i wAS NoT BoRN (DAS LIED IN MIR) Germany/Argentina, 2010, 95 min., 35mm German/Spanish/English with English subtitles

Competitive swimmer Maria (Jessica Schwarz) misses a connecting flight in Buenos Aires. Although she does not speak Spanish, the sound of a lullaby un-settles her to the point of staying in the unfamiliar city.She is surprised by the unannounced arrival of her aging father Anton at her hotel. As the tenuous relationship between daughter and father unravels over the course of the film, and secrets are revealed - including tales of kidnapping, torture, and a personal back-story Maria was never told - an elegant drama emerges, with one foot in historical tragedy and one in the everyday tragedies between family members. Winner of Best Supporting Actress, Beatriz Spelzini and winner of Best Score/Bronze (composer: Matthias klein) and nominated for Best Direction and Cine-matography at the German Film Awards.

DiRECToR Florian Cossen

SCREENPlAy Elena von SauckenFlorian Cossen

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Matthias Fleischer

CASTJessica SchwarzMichael GwisdekRafael FerroBeatriz Spelzini

PRoDUCTioN teamWorx Television & Film GmbH/Ludwigsburg in co-production with BR, SWR, Filmakademie Baden-Wuert-temberg


Florian Cossen was born in Tel Aviv/Israel in 1979 and spent his childhood in Israel, Cana-da, Spain and Costa Rica before moving to Germany. He studied Film Directing at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Film Academy from 2002-2009. During that time he made several short films, including “Wolf’s Night” (“Wolfsnacht”) and “L’oubli”, shot in Montreal and co-direct-ed by French-Canadian director Antonin Monmart. He was the recipient of a scholarship to USC’s Hollywood Perspective workshop in 2005 and was a visiting student at the Universi-dad del Cine in Buenos Aires in 2006. “The Day I Was Not Born” (“Das Lied in mir”) is his first feature.


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Friday, october 28 @ 9:30 p.m. A E R o THEATRE wESTwiNDGermany/Hungary, 2011, 89 min., 35mm, German/Hungarian with English subtitles

It is 1988, a year before the fall of the Berlin Wall, and inseparable 17-year-old twins Doreen und Isabel, successful oarswomen, are spending the summer at the placid Lake Balaton in the Soviet satellite state of Hungary. yet the tran-quility of their focused summer begins to crumble when Doreen falls for Arne, a young West German man. Confronted with the first real instance of possi-ble rupture in their relationship, and with the reality that the divided Germany of their entire upbringing is about to radically change, Doreen and Isabel find themselves looking ahead to an uncertain future and the most momentous de-cision of their lives.

Discussion following with director Robert Thalheim

DiRECToR Robert Thalheim

SCREENPlAy Ilja HallerSusann Schimk

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Eeva Fleig

CASTFriederike Becht Luise Heyer Franz Dinda Volker Bruch

PRoDUCTioN credo:film gmbh/Berlin in co-production with Laokoon-film/Budapest in cooperation with ZDF, ARTE

woRlD SAlESBeta Cinema / Dept. of Beta Film GmbHAndreas [email protected]

D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E LOS ANGELES

Robert Thalheim was born in 1974 in West Berlin and graduated from a high school in Rockville, Indiana. He studied History, Modern German Literature and Politics at the Free University in Berlin and Directing at the Academy of Film and Television in Potsdam-Babels-berg “konrad Wolf”. His debut film “Netto” (2004) was awarded the Max-Ophuels Prize and the German Film Crit-ics Award. His 2006 “Am Ende kommen Touristen” (“And Along Came Tourists”) was based on his own experience as a volunteer at the Auschwitz visitor center. Between 2008 and 2010 Thalheim worked as a director at Berlin’s Maxim Gorki Theater and at the Schauspiel-haus Hannover. Thalheim is cofounder of kUNDSCHAFTERFILM. He lives with his family in Berlin Pankow.

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PARTiCiPANTS

Christine BergGerman Federal Film Funding, Project Manager

Dieter KraussMFG Film Funding Baden-Wuerttem-berg, Member of the Management Board

Andres Veiel Filmmaker, Director of festival film “IF NOT US, WHO”?

MoDERAToR

oliver Mahrdt U.S. Representa-tive of German Films

CO-PRODUCER GERMANY | How to get your film fundedGerman film funds and their impact on international film production

Who are the German film foundations? How do German film funds operate?

what are their core activities, what is their policy? who is eligible to apply?

What is the decision making process? Can they help to get my film funded?

These and many more questions will be answered at our panel on German film funding agencies, which is organized by the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles in col-laboration with German Films.

German Films Service + Marketing GmbH is the national information and advisory center for the

promotion of German films worldwide. It was established in 1954 under the name Export-Union of German Cinema as the umbrella association for the As-sociation of German Feature Film Producers, the Association of New German Feature Film Producers and the Association of German Film Exporters, and op-erates today in the legal form of a limited company. In 2004, the company was reorganized and now operates under the name: German Films Service + Mar-keting GmbH. German Films: www.german-films.de

Since October 1995, the MFG Film Fund-ing Baden-Wuerttemberg supports cul-turally significant film projects to ad-

vance the local film industry in south-west Germany. Its associates are the fed-eral state of Baden-Wuerttemberg and the Suedwestrundfunk SWR as well as ZDF/arte. With a budget of about 15 Million Euros the MFG funds script-writ-ing, pre-production, incentive funding, production of film, TV and video proj-ects, post-production and distribution. www.mfg.de/film/en/

The German Film Fund (DFFF) is a model of suc-cess. Since its establishment in January 2007, the DFFF has supported 302 projects in all categories and genres with grants totaling 178.1 million euros.

This lead to investments of around 1.1 billion euros in the German film indus-try alone.Guidelines and detailed information at: www.dfff-ffa.de

Born and educated in Stuttgart, film maker Andres Veiel (“If not Us, Who?”) has been a long-time beneficiary of the MFG Film Funding Baden-Wuerttemberg. The agency supported all of Veiel’s major films and helped launch his stellar career as one of Germany’s most important film makers. Veiel will explain the ins and outs, the dos and don’ts of film funding in Germany from a director’s perspective.

LOS ANGELES

loCATioNGoethe-Institut Los Angeles5750 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 100Los Angeles, CA 90036

FREE oF CHARGEhowever RSVPs requested @ 323.525.3388

PARKiNGFREE parking at Wilshire Courtyard West Building (P1)with validation

Saturday, october 29 @ 12:30 p.m. GoETHE-iNSTiTUT loS ANGElES

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Saturday, october 29 @ 7:30 p.m. E G y P T i A N T H E A T R E

iF NoT US, wHo? (WER WENN NICHT WIR) Germany, 2011, 124 min., 35mm, German with English subtitles

For lovers of “The Baader-Meinhof Complex”, this is a must-see. Chronicling the decade-long relationship between radical-left poster girl Gudrun Ensslin (a terrific Lena Lauzemis) and writer Bernward Vesper (August Diehl), director Andres Vei-el gets inside the mindset of a divided Berlin teeming with radical change. As the increasingly left-wing Vesper struggles with mixed feelings for his father, one of Hitler’s favorite writers during the Nazi regime, and as Ensslin slowly but steadi-ly transforms from a wide-eyed co-ed to a steely revolutionary, the incendiary couple’s stormy personal life evolves in constantly unpredictable directions.Winner of both the Alfred Bauer Award and Prize of the Guild of German Arthouse Cinemas, and nominated for the Golden Bear, at the Berlin International Film Festival 2011. Winner of Best Feature Film/Bronze at the German Film Awards.

Discussion following with director Andres Veiel

DiRECToR Andres Veiel

SCREENPlAy Andres Veiel

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Judith kaufmann

CASTAugust DiehlLena LauzemisAlexander FehlingThomas ThiemeMichael Wittenborn

PRoDUCTioN zero one film/Berlin in co-production with Degeto Film/Frankfurt, WDR/Cologne, SWR/Baden-Baden, Sena-tor Film Produktion/Berlin, deutschfilm/Berlin

woRlD SAlESThe Match Factory GmbHMichael [email protected]

Andres Veiel, born in Stuttgart in 1959, is considered one of Germany’s most important di-rectors. In addition to studying psychology, he worked and studied with Polish director krzysztof kieslowski at kunsthaus Bethanien in Berlin.His documentary film debut was in 1994 with “Winternachtstraum” followed by the award-winning documentary “Balagan” about the Jewish-Palestinian theater group Akko. After that he produced one award winning film after the other: “Die Ueberlebenden” (“The Survivors” 1996) investigating the suicides of three of his high school friends. “Black Box BRD” (“Black Box Germany”, 2001.), an excursion into the lives of RAF terrorist Wolfgang Grams and banker and RAF victim Alfred Herrhausen . He followed four acting students at Ernst Busch Academy over four years in “Die Spielwuetigen” (“Addicted to Acting“ 2004), and delivered a stunning report on a brutal hate crime in “Der kick” (“The kick”). “If Not Us, Who?“ is Veiel’s first feature.



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Saturday, october 29 @ 9:30 p.m. E G y P T i A N T H E A T R E

SToPPED oN TRACK (HALT AUF FREIER STRECkE) Germany, 2011, 110 min., 35mm, German with English subtitles

Andreas Dresen directs this intelligent and startlingly raw drama portraying a German postal worker’s small window of time between the diagnosis of a ter-minal brain tumor and death. After Frank learns of his suddenly truncated fu-ture, he and wife Simone must wrestle with breaking the news to their chil-dren, and with Frank’s increasingly erratic - even hostile - behavior. Trenchant observations and true-ringing moments emerge from the cast’s entirely impro-vised dialogue.

Cannes Winner of “Un Certain Regard” in 2011

“The process recalls that of Mike Leigh, and the payoff is similar, with dialogue that sounds entirely natural and actors totally at ease with their lines.” - Variety

D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E F E A T U R E • D O U B L E LOS ANGELES

DiRECToR Andreas Dresen

SCREENPlAy Andreas DresenCooky Ziesche

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Michael Hammon

CASTMilan PeschelSteffi kuehnertTalisa Lilli LemkeMika Nilson Seidel

PRoDUCTioNRommel Film e.k./Berlin in co-production with Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg Berlin, ARTE Strasbourg



Andreas Dresen was born 1963 in Gera. In the early 80s he began working in theater and making short films. He studied Directing at the “konrad Wolf” University of Film & Tele-vision in Potsdam-Babelsberg. Since 1992, he has been working as a writer and director for film, TV and theater. A selection of his award-winning films includes: “Silent Country” (“Stilles Land”, 1992), “Night Shapes” (“Nachgestalten”, 1998), “The Policewoman” (“Die Po-lizistin”, 2000), “Grill Point” (“Halbe Treppe”, 2001), “Vote for Henryk!” (“Herr Wichmann von der CDU”, 2003), “Willenbrock” (2004), “Summer in Berlin” (“Sommer vorm Balkon”, 2005), “Cloud 9” (“Wolke 9”, 2008), “Whisky with Vodka” (“Whisky mit Wodka”, 2009), and “Stopped on Track” (“Halt auf freier Strecke”, 2011).

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Sunday, october 30 @ 10:00 a.m. GOETHE-INsTITUT LOs ANGELEs

wiNTER’S DAUGHTER (WINTERTOCHTER) Germany/Poland, 2010, 93 min., DVD, German with English subtitles, Ages 10 +.

A touching story about a young girl determined to track down her biological father. By turns inspiring and moving, Winter’s Daughter takes us on an eccen-tric road trip as a mismatched couple regains the ground beneath their feet, and themselves.

DiRECToR Johannes Schmid

SCREENPlAy Michaela Hinnenthal Thomas Schmid

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Michael Bertl

CAST Nina Monka, Ursula Werner, Leon Seidel, Dominik Nowak,Maxim Mehmet, Merab Ninidze

PRoDUCTioN schlicht und ergreifend Film GmbH/Munich

woRlD SAlES schlicht und ergreifend Film GmbHPhilipp [email protected]

DiRECToR Jakob Schuh, Max Lang

SCREENPlAyJulia Donaldson, Max Lang, Jakob Schuh

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Ulli Hadding, Hubert Maerkl

PRoDUCTioN Magic Light Pictures/London in association with Studio Soi/Ludwigsburg

woRlD SAlESMagic Light PicturesMichael [email protected]

LOS ANGELES

Born in 1973 Johannes Schmid studied drama and film, German languages and litera-ture and music in Erlangen and Munich. Following his studies he worked as an assistant director at several theatres and began directing in his own right. In 2001 he founded the production company “schlicht und ergreifend” with Philipp Budweg.

preceded by

THE GRUFFAlo (DER GRUEFFELO)Great Britain/Germany 2009, 27 min., DVD, English Original

This Oscar®-nominated animated film is based on the classic children’s picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, “The Gruf-falo” tells the magical tale of a mouse who takes a walk though the woods in search of a nut.Encountering three predators who all wish to eat him - a fox, an owl and a snake - the plucky mouse has to use his wits to survive.

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Sunday, october 30 @ 5:00 p.m. AERo THEATRE

CHARloTTE RAMPliNG: THE looKGermany/France, 2011, 94 min., 35mm, French with English subtitles

Narrative filmmaker Angelina Maccarone makes an impressive foray into docu-mentary with this endlessly fascinating portrait of screen icon Charlotte Ram-pling. Focused less on Rampling’s biographical details and more on the actress’ decidedly non-conformist personality, the film is segmented into free-wheeling conversations between Rampling and various friends, including artists Peter Lindbergh, Paul Auster and poet Frederick Seidel, and offers insight into Ram-pling’s feelings on topics that range from aging to desire, from death to her love of photography. Clips from the British actress’ most famous films - includ-ing “The Damned”, “The Night Porter”, “Georgy Girl” and “Stardust Memories - are interspersed throughout.

Official selection of Cannes 2011

Discussion following with director Angelina Maccarone

Co-presented by OUTFEST

LOS ANGELES

DiRECToR Angelina Maccarone

SCREENPlAy/CoNCEPT Angelina Maccarone

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Bernd Meiners

PRoDUCTioN TAG/TRAUM Filmproduktion/Cologne, Prounen Film/Berlin, Les Films D’Ici/Paris in co-, production with ZDF/Mainz, 3sat, ARTE/Strasbourg

woRlD SAlESMk2 DiffusionDelphine [email protected]

U.S. DiSTRiBUToRLorber MediaRichard [email protected]

Angelina Maccarone was born in Cologne in 1965 and studied German and American Litera-ture and Film at the University of Hamburg. She made her directorial debut in 1994 with the coming-out comedy “kommt Mausi raus?!” followed by “Everything will be Fine” (“Alles wird gut”, 1997) winner of Audience Awards in New york, Toronto and Los Angeles, AN ANGEL’S “Revenge”(“Ein Engel schlaegt zurueck”, 1997), “Unveiled” (“Fremde Haut”, 2005) Jury Grand Prize at the International LGBT Festival in Montreal and the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Seattle L & G Film Festival, “Hounded” (“Verfolgt”, 2006) which won the Gold-en Leopard at Locarno in 2006, “Vivere” (2006), and “Charlotte Rampling: The Look” (2011).

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DiRECToR Ulrich koehler

SCREENPlAy Ulrich koehler

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Patrick Orth

CASTPierre BokmaJean-Christophe FollyJenny SchilyHippolyde GirardotSava LolovMaria Elise Miller

PRoDUCTioN komplizenfilm in co-pro-duction with OeFilm/Berlin, Why Not Productions/Paris, IDTV/Amsterdam, ZDF, ARTE

woRlD SAlESThe Match FactoryMichael [email protected]

Ulrich Koehler was born in 1969 in Marburg. He studied Fine Art in France, followed by studies in Philosophy and Visual Communication in Hamburg. His films include: the shorts “Epoxy” (1996, in co-direction with Nina koennemann), “Maria Tokyo” (1997), “Starsky” (1997), “Palue” (1998, in co-direction with Jochen Dehn), and “Rakete” (1999), followed by his highly-acclaimed feature debut “Bungalow” (2002), “Windows on Monday” (“Montag kom-men die Fenster”, 2006), and “Sleeping Sickness” (“Schlafkrankheit”, 2011).

Sunday, october 30 @ 7:30 p.m. AERo THEATRE

SlEEPiNG SiCKNESS (SCHLAFkRANkHEIT)Germany/France/The Netherlands, 2011, 91 min., 35mm, French with English subtitles

Staggering location shooting and dual intertwining narratives of a Dutch-born doctor Ebbo, and Parisian doctor Alex who ultimately meet in Cameroon an-chor this thoughtful drama from German director Ulrich koehler. Ebbo, one of the best in his field, is relentlessly running a floundering sleeping sickness pro-gram in Africa, while Alex, of Congolese descent but uncomfortable in his Afri-can surroundings, has been sent to evaluate Ebbo’s program. A complex tale of national identity and racial identity comes to the fore in this Silver Berlin Bear winner and at the Berlin International Film Festival 2011.

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Sunday, october 30 @ 9:30 p,m. AERo THEATRE

lolliPoP MoNSTERGermany, 2011, 96 min., 35mm, German with English subtitles

Oona is an inky, unsmiling goth girl while her best friend Ari is her chromatic opposite, a bleached blonde with a psychedelic rainbow wardrobe. Filmmaker and comic book artist Ziska Riemann presents an assured debut reminiscent of GHOST WORLD as her adolescent odd couple protagonists weather the unfor-giving terrains of high school and home, while the adults in their life (includ-ing a suicidal tortured artist father and a perpetually sleazy uncle) prove con-sistently irresponsible. Music videos, Super 16 and short animation sequences pepper this punchy, spunky coming-of-age drama, winner of the Femina-Film-Prize at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival.

Discussion between films with “Lollipop Monster” director Ziska Riemann

DiRECToR Ziska Riemann

SCREENPlAy Ziska Riemann Luci van Org

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Hannes Hubach

CASTJella HaaseSarah HorváthNicolette krebitz

PRoDUCTioN Network Movie Film- und Fernsehproduktion GmbH & Co k/Cologne in co-pro-duction with ZDF-Das kleine Fernsehspiel/Mainz

woRlD SAlESAktis Film International GmbHStelios [email protected]

Born in Munich in 1973, Ziska Riemann grew up in Berlin. She studied alternative medicine and is a specialist in Shiatsu therapy. In 1999 she was awarded a scholor-ship and attended the Munich Screenwriting Workshop. In 2005 she founded a re-cord label, MerMer and subsequently studied painting at the Wiesbaden Art School (WFk). Ziska then worked as a musician and editor of comic books. After several shorts, “Lollipop Monster” is her first feature film.

C l o S i N G N i G H T F i l M | U . S . P R E M i E R E

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loCATioNS

AMERiCAN

CiNEMATHEQUE

THE EGyPTiAN

THEATRE

6712 Hollywood Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90028

Phone: 323.466.FILM

www.egyptiantheatre.com

AMERiCAN

CiNEMATHEQUE

THE AERo

THEATRE

1328 Montana Avenue

Santa Monica, CA 90403

Phone: 323.466.FILM

www.aerotheatre.com

GoETHE-iNSTiTUT

loS ANGElES

5750 Wilshire Boulevard

Suite 100

Los Angeles, CA 90036

Phone: 323.525.3388

www.goethe.de/losangeles

CREDiTS AND ACKNowlEDGMENTSwww.GoETHE.DE/GERMANCURRENTS / [email protected]

GERMAN CURRENTS

FESTiVAl DiRECToRAnnette Rupp

FESTiVAl CooRDiNAToRMargit kleinman

EXECUTiVE TEAMSylvia Mogel

Thomas Rupprecht

wEBSiTEStefan kloo

PUBliCiSTFumi kitahara

FESTiVAl TRAilERBoris Schaarschmidt

FESTiVAl PoSTER/BRoCHUREAnna-MariaFurlong,

AMF Graphics

PHoToGRAPHER/wEB PRoDUCERAaron Perez

FESTiVAl iNTERNNina Bezold

SElECTioN CoMMiTTEEIan Birnie

Gwen Deglise

Nicole kaufmann

Margit kleinman

Annette Rupp

LOS ANGELES

oFFiCiAl PARTNERSGerman Films

American Cinematheque

MFG Film Funding Baden-

Wuerttemberg

Lufthansa

Berlin & Beyond Film Festival

MAJoR SPoNSoRSMFG Film Funding Baden-

Wuerttemberg

Lufthansa

ELMA – European Languages

and Movies in America

FoG - Friends of Goethe

Porsche of Beverly Hills

The Standard, Hollywood

MEDiA SPoNSoREuro Channel

SPECiAl SUPPoRTGerman Consulate General

in Los Angeles

kim yutani, OUTFEST

Vera Mijojlic, SEEFEST

HoTEl PARTNERThe Standard, Hollywood

CATERERyvonne Dubrow,

Classic Cuisine Catering

24

Dear Cineastes,

Greetings and welcome

I am pleased to say hello on behalf of staff, board and volunteers of San Diego’s first German Film Festival. The organizers combined their talents to produce this remarkable event thriving towards excellence and out-

standing performance. Winston Churchill’s famous quote “We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give”, applies more than ever to the team. Without their relentless support in giving and volunteering time and mon-ey, this remarkable festival would still be a dream.

A comprehensive selection of award winning movies presents fun, action and cultural encounters for the connoisseurs of cinematic art. This festival is a unique event that highlights the gifts of some of Germany’s most talented filmmakers. We are thrilled to have this spectacular event here in San Diego.

My best wishes are with the filmmakers, organizers and supporters as you pros-per in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Dr. Stephan Hollmann Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany

SAN DIEGOGERMAN CURRENTS

www.germancurrentssd.org

25

GERMAN CURRENTSNew Films From Germany

October 22-23, 2011

GermaN CurreNtsSAN DIEGO

www.germancurrentssd.org

Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park@

26

SAN DIEGO

Saturday, october 22 @ 6:30 p.m. M o P A

AlMANyA: wElCoME To GERMANy(ALMANyA: WILLkOMMEN IN DEUTSCHLAND)Germany/Turkey, 2011, 35mm, 101 min., German/Turkish with English subtitles

Composed in parallel structure, this light-as-air and colorfully punchy com-edy of manners focuses on generations of cultural misunderstandings inside a German-Turkish household. First set in contemporary day Germany, patri-arch Huseyin (Vedat Erincin) insists his entire family - including grown children and grandchildren - accompany him on a holiday to Turkey. Next set in 1964, young Huseyin arrives in Germany for the first time, with the unglamorous ti-tle of being the one-millionth-and-first guest worker in the country. As the two time periods switch back and forth, a constantly amusing portrait of a family with multiple national identities - and multiply confused identities - winning-ly forms.

Official selection of the Berlin International Film Festival 2011

DiRECToR yasemin Samdereli

SCREENPlAy yasemin Samdereli Nesrin Samdereli

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Ngo the Chau

CAST Vedat Erincin Fahri yardim Lilay HuserDemeth GuelDenis Moschitto

PRoDUCTioN Roxy Film in co-production with Infa Film/Munich


yasemin Samdereli was born in 1973 in Dortmund. After graduating from the Academy of Television & Film in Munich she worked on various international film productions. Her films as a director include the shorts “Schluesselloecher” (1994), “Lieber Gott” (1996), “kismet” (2001), and “Sextasy” (2002), as well as the TV movies “Alles getuerkt” (2003), “Zivis” (2004), “Ich Chefe, Du nix” (2007). “Almanya” (2011), which she co-wrote with her sister Nesrin, is her theatrical feature film debut.

o P E N i N G

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SAN DIEGO

Sunday, october 23 @ 11:30 a.m. M o P A

HANDS oFF MiSSiSSiPPi (HÄNDE WEG VON MISSISSIPPI ) Germany, 2008, 98 min., German with English subtitles

Based on Cornelia Funke’s novel, the film tells the story of ten-year old Em-ma’s adventurous summer vacation at her grandmother Dolly’s (katharina Thalbach) in the countryside. Upon her arrival she learns that old klipperbusch has passed away – and his greedy nephew Albert is about to send klip-perbusch’s beloved mare Mississippi to the slaughter house. With Dolly’s help Emma buys the horse and things seem to look up. But then Albert returns and wants the horse back, a sure sign for Emma and her friends that he is up to no good and action is needed.

preceded by

THE GRUFFAlo (DER GRUEFFELO)Great Britain/Germany 2009, 27 min., DVD, English Original

This Oscar®-nominated animated film is based on the classic children’s picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, “The Gruffa-lo” tells the magical tale of a mouse in search of a nut.

DiRECToR Detlev Buck

SCREENPlAy Stefan SchallerMaggie Peren

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Jena Marsik

CASTkatharina ThalbachZoe Charlotte Mannhardt Milan PeschelMargit Carstensen

PRoDUCTioNBoje Buck Produktion GmbHin co-production with ZDF/Mainz woRlD SAlESBavaria Film International /Dept. of Bavaria Media GmbHThorsten [email protected]

K i N D E R K i N o !

Detlev Buck was born in 1962 in Bad Segeberg and made his fame as an actor, director and screenwriter at the tender age of 22 with the short “Time to knock Off” (“Erst die Arbeit und dann...?”), which quickly became a cult classic. Since then he moves effortlessly between writing, acting and directing garnering awards in each categorie.His feature films include “Rabbit Fever” (“karniggels”), followed by “No More Mr. Nice Guy” (“Wir koennen auch anders”), which garnered an honorable mention at the Berlin Film Festi-val and two German Film Awards. In 2004, he was awarded the German Film Award as Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Berlin Blues” (“Herr Lehmann”). Buck was also on the cast of Michael Haneke’s Oscar®-nominated “The White Ribbon”.His other works as a director are: “Tough Enough “(“knallhart”), “Hands Off Mississippi” (“Hände weg von Mississippi”), both of which won German Film Awards in several categories.

Endorsed by

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SAN DIEGO

Sunday, october 23 @ 3 p.m. M o P A

MAHlER oN THE CoUCH (MAHLER AUF DER COUCH)Germany, 2010, 35mm, 98 min., German with English subtitles

It’s the summer of 1910. Driven mad by jealousy over his wife’s affair with young Walter Gropius, composer Gustav Mahler travels to Amsterdam to seek help from Sigmund Freud. This passionate and witty film is a portrait of the fascinating, fevered and doomed marriage between Gustav Mahler and wife Alma. Adlon tells their story through the seriocomic lens of the famous psychia-trist. The luxurious camera work by Benedict Neuenfels is completed by the Mahler score, recorded Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Swedish Radio Symphony.

Discussion following with Dan ireland

”Moving, surprisingly funny, and filled with Mahler’s sublime music, Adlon’s movie is a sensory feast.” - LA FILM FEST

Endorsed by

DiRECToR Percy AdlonFelix Adlon

SCREENPlAy Percy AdlonFelix Adlon

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Benedict Neuenfels

CAST Johannes SilberschneiderBarbara Romanerkarl MarkovicsEva MattesLena Stolze

PRoDUCTioNPele Mele Film GmbH/MunichCult Film GmbH

woRlD SAlESFutura Film Verlag

U.S. DiSTRiBUToR National Center for Jewish [email protected]

Percy Adlon was born in Munich and grew up in the Bavarian country side. His father was an opera singer, and his mother member of the family, that owned the Adlon Hotel in Berlin. That combination drew him to the topics of country, music, and eventually some glitz and glamour. Percy Adlon started out as an actor, and a radio narrator. He never went to film schools, but rath-er learned his craft with the camerateams and the editors of the Bavarian TV station in Munich. At age 35, he turned to filmmaking and made 150 docu-mentaries within 10 years, followed by 11 feature films, “Bagdad Café” being his biggest international success.

29

SAN DIEGO

Sunday, october 23 @ 6 p.m. M o P A

THREE (DREI)Germany, 2010, 35mm, 119 min., German with English subtitles

Hanna and Simon are a 40-is Berlin couple They are attractive, modern, ma-ture, childless, cultivated, down-to-earth. Affairs, wanting children, moving in together, miscarriage, fleeing and returning: this anchorwoman and art techni-cian have put a lot behind them and are reasonable content. That is until both of them fall in love…..with Adam.

Discussion following with Reinhold Heil

DiRECToR Tom Tykwer

SCREENPlAy Tom Tykwer

CiNEMAToGRAPHy Frank Griebe

CASTSophie RoisSebastian SchipperDevid Striesow

PRoDUCTioN X-Filme Creative Pool GmbH in co-production with WDR, ARD, Degeto, ARTE


U.S. DiSTRiBUToRStrand ReleasingMarcus [email protected]

Born in Wuppertal, Tom Tykwer moved to Berlin in the 1980s and worked as a projectionist and booker in various independent art house cinemas.His first feature “Deadly Maria” premiered in 1993 in Hof and was shown in over 60 interna-tional festivals. In 1994 Tom Tykwer co-founded X-Filme Creative Pool, which had their in-ternational breakthrough in 1998 with Tykwer’s “Run Lola Run”. Other films include “Winter Sleepers“ (1997),), “The Princess and the Warrior” (2000), „Heaven“ (2002), „Perfume – the Story of a Murderer“ (2006) and „The International“ (2009). In 2008 he co-founded the non-profit organization One Fine Day e.V. which promotes and supports artistic education in the ghettos of Nairobi (kenya).

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in Cooperation with:Goethe-Institut Los Angeles

German Currents Los Angeles

Berlin & Beyond Film Festival

Lufthansa

Main Sponsors:FTI Engineering Network GmbH Major Sponsors:Pacific Aviation & Lease Management

Profil Institute for Clinical Research

Fenstermann

GACCCA

International Aircraft Sales

Supporting Sponsors:House of Germany

German American Society

HOLOEyE Systems Inc.

Purps Fine Dentistry

Internscout

Metabolic Balance Special Thanks:Head to Toe - Market Research

Deutsche Evangelische kirche San Diego

Marget & Rex Downing Ass./Ascent Real Estate

Steinbeis University Berlin

Event Partners:Mercedes Benz Escondido

Like Beans

Truly Fine Wine

Hotel Partner:W-Hotel San Diego Caterer:Toast Catering

Festival DirectorMona Mukherjea-Gehrig Festival CoordinatorSusanne kuhtz

Liaison OfficerEckart F. Rotermund

websiteStefan kloo

PublicistEllen van der Wagt TreasurerJudi yeager

Festival TrailerBoris Schaarschmidt

Festival Poster/BrochureAnna-Maria Furlong

PhotographyBrian Deppe

Deena Ensworth

Elli Rotermund

[email protected]

Festival internsUrsula Cuniff

Jeung-Ho Peters

Pia Thrasher

Theresa Blain

Anna Hutter

Sophia Queck

Chiara Sander

Heike Rentel

Rebecca kramer

Myriam & Hannah Malthaner Special SupportDr. Stephan HollmannArmina kranz

SAN DiEGoCREDiTS AND ACKNowlEDGMENTSwww.germancurrentssd.org

German Currents 2011 Brochure

Documents

Transcript of German Currents 2011 Brochure