News & Facts
“THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX” TO REPRESENT GERMANY IN THE RACE FOR THE ACADEMY AWARD®
MUSEUM FOR FILM AND TELEVISION “ON TOUR”
SUPPORT FOR THE GERMAN FILM COLLECTION AT HARVARD
GERMAN SHORTS SUCCESSFUL AT SUMMER FESTIVALS
MFG BADEN-WUERTTEMBERG IN ROME & PRAGUE
RECORD ATTENDANCE AT 8TH FESTIVAL OF GERMAN FILMS IN BUENOS AIRES
“THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX” TO REPRESENT GERMANY IN THE RACE FOR THE ACADEMY AWARD®
The independent expert jury, appointed by German Films to select the German entry to compete for the Academy Award® for the Best Foreign Language Film, has – under the chairmanship of Alfred Huermer – chosen The Baader Meinhof Complex by Uli Edel.
The jury on its decision: “The brilliant performance by the entire cast and the extraordinary adaptation of the story allows a view of the early 70s in the Federal Republic of Germany, without glorifying the perpetrators.”
Produced by Constantin Film Produktion/Munich (producer: Bernd Eichinger), Nouvelles Editions de Films/Paris, and G.T. Film Production/Prague, the film, based on the book by Stefan Aust, was released in German cinemas on 25 September 2008 (distributor: Constantin Film Verleih/Munich).
International sales are being handled by Summit Entertainment/Los Angeles – The Baader Meinhof Complex has already been sold in the most important international territories.
Bernd Eichinger on the jury’s decision: “Uli Edel and I are extremely pleased. We invested a lot of energy into this film and are proud to represent German cinema in the race for the Academy Award®.”
The Baader Meinhof Complex was supported by FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Bayerischen Bankenfonds, the German Federal Film Board (FFA), the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. The broadcasters NDR, BR, WDR and Degeto were also involved in the project.
On 22 January 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will nominate five films from the international entries to participate in the final selection to compete for the Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film. Films from some 100 countries are being submitted for this year’s coveted trophy. The official awards ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on 22 February 2009.
MUSEUM FOR FILM AND TELEVISION “ON TOUR”
Numerous exhibitions conceived by the Berlin Museum for Film and Television are on tour this year. In December alone, three exhibitions will be taken over by international museums. “Moving Spaces. Production Design + Film” will be shown at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne starting 4 December 2008. The project is dedicated to the work of production designers, set designers and film architects through the use of film examples, designs and models. From 11 December 2008, the Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw will show “film.kunst: Ulrike Ottinger.” This extensive show presents the large-scale photographs, costumes and workbooks of the self-willed filmmaker. “Movies on the Mind. Psychology and Film” will open at the Hong Kong Film Archive in mid-December 2008. In multimedia experience spaces, visitors can place themselves “on the couch” and explore their emotions in a “crying room.”
HANDS ON HD IN HANOVER
With some 400 participants from the fields of film and television, over 40 German and European experts and exclusive technical equipment, this year’s Hands on HD, organized by nordmedia and Band Pro Munich, was once again a unique industry event. For seven days, practical exercises and lectures on cinematography and post-production were on the program for workshop participants.
Directors and producers were offered extensive insight on High Definition during a two-day seminar. Through the support of around 50 sponsors and cooperation partners, more than 50 HD cameras and 25 high-tech editing boards were made available, giving the participants a rare opportunity to get to know almost all camera systems currently on the market. The goal of the event is to provide intensive technical and workflow training and to keep the entire film and television production industry up-to-date on changing transformation processes.
BONJOUR PARIS
During her tours in the 19th century, Clara Schumann also traveled to Paris. Now she is returning to the French capital as the leading role in Helma Sanders-Brahms’ new film Clara. The German-French co-production, with Martina Gedeck in the leading role, opens the film program of Saison France-North Rhine-Westphalia 2008/2009 on October 5th in the Parisian Cinema Arlequin. For an entire year, the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) will present itself also from its cultural “best side” in France.
The selection of films, which shows the diversity of the productions from NRW, was made by the Filmstiftung NRW, Goethe-Institut Paris, German Films and the Duisburger Filmwoche. Other highlights will include the NRW-supported films being shown at the 13th Festival of German Films in Paris (15 - 21 October), a short film program at the Goethe-Institut Paris, a screening of the globalizationdocumentary Losers and Winners, and the European premiere of Oskar Roehler’s latest film Lulu & Jimi, which was shot in 2007 in NRW. Further information on the cultural and arts program Saison France-North Rhine-Westphalia 2008/2009 can be found at www.artention.info.
SUPPORT FOR THE GERMAN FILM COLLECTION AT HARVARD
In 1999, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern established a center for German film at Harvard University – the German Film Collection. In the meantime, over two hundred 35 mm prints of German films are archived at the university in Cambridge, MA, where symposia and workshops are also offered. Now FFF Bayern, with the support of numerous producers, is currently adding new German films to the stock. “There is no other place in North America that is better equipped than Harvard University for the research and viewing of German films,” says Prof. Eric Rentschler. His colleague, Haden Guest, director of the Film Archive adds: “Thanks to the mediation from FFF Bayern, we have also received English-subtitled prints from American distributors including, for example, the Oscar®-winning The Lives of Others.
Some of the latest additions to the film library include: Grenzverkehr by Stefan Betz, Die Scheinheiligen by Thomas Kronthaler, Oktoberfest by Johannes Brunner, Winterreise and Hierankl by Hans Steinbichler, the literary adaptation Durch diese Nacht sehe ich keinen einzigen Stern by Dagmar Knoepfel, and the political drama Schlaefer by Benjamin Heisenberg.
To secure future events in the coming year, further prints, press materials and film literature will be sent at the end of 2008. Other producers have confirmed their films. “We will continue our support for the German Film Collection in Harvard, for there is no better place outside of Germany to get to know and study German films than at Harvard,” says FFF Bayern’s CEO Dr. Klaus Schaefer.
In addition to Harvard, the FFF Bayern was also active at two other North American “locations”: the German Currents in Los Angeles and the presentation of 10 Bavarian productions recently at the World Film Festival in Montreal were great successes.
GERMAN SHORTS SUCCESSFUL AT SUMMER FESTIVALS
German shorts celebrated one success after another during the summer months. And the USA proved to be particularly interested in German short films. Tomer Eshed’s Our Wonderful Nature won the Best Well Told Fable Prize at the SIGGRAPH Festival in Los Angeles, one of the most internationally renowned competitions in the area of computer animation. At the end of August at the LA Shorts Festival – with over 600 films, one of the largest worldwide – Peter Ladkani’s film Guenstige Prognose won the award for Best Foreign Language Film and thereby qualifies for submission for the Short Film Oscar®. In July, Gil Alkabetz won the Best Short for Children award at Animamundi in Brasil for his film Ein sonniger Tag.
At the Monterrey International Film Festival in Mexico, Florian Grolig’s film Weiss took home the Best Animated Short Film prize. And Reto Caffi’s highly-acclaimed short Auf der Strecke continued its winning streak after the Student-Oscar®: at the International Tabor Short film Festival in Croatia, the moving drama was distinguished as Best Short Feature. The film also received the Patrick Peyton Excellence in Filmmaking Award at the Angelus Student Festival in Hollywood.
MFG BADEN-WUERTTEMBERG IN ROME & PRAGUE
The MFG-supported film Long Shadows by Connie Walther is being screened in the Official Selection (Cinema 2008 competition) of this year’s Rome film festival. The Next Film and Gambit Film production tells the story of Widmer, a former member of the Red Army Faction who sat in prison for some 20 years. A key witness confirmed his involvement in the murder of a bank president and bank employee. But the doubts concerning his involvement remain. Until he meets Valerie. Then he has to pay…
Three other MFG-supported films were screened at the third DER FILM festival in Prague, which was organized by the local Goethe-Institute: Absurdistan by Veit Helmer, Runaway Horse by Rainer Kaufmann, and Sonbol by Niko Apel. Absurdistan tells the story of a group of women who start a sex-strike in their village when their men refuse to repair the local water supply. Runaway Horse, with Ulrich Noethen, Katja Riemann and Ulrich Tukur in the leading roles, recounts the coincidental meeting of two old school friends; a meeting which turns into a competition on life’s philosophies and women’s fancies. And Sonbol portrays the strong woman of the title name: a self-employed dentist who lives in the Islamic Republic of Iran – and drives in sports rallies!
RECORD ATTENDANCE AT 8TH FESTIVAL OF GERMAN FILMS IN BUENOS AIRES
Some 5,500 cinemagoers packed the Village Recoleta cinemas in Buenos Aires to see German films. For the third year in a row, attendance figures climbed and the festival has become a welcomed cultural event for local audiences, press and distributors in the Argentine capital.
This year’s festival opened with Dennis Gansel’s The Wave, with the director and his leading actress Jennifer Ulrich in attendance. The film was shown in three sold-out screenings. Director Martin Gypkens was also on hand to present his film Nothing But Ghosts. Other films in the festival program included: Cherry Blossoms – Hanami by Doris Doerrie, The Edge of Heaven by Fatih Akin, Trade by Marco Kreuzpaintner, Special Escort by Maggie Peren, Chiko by Oezguer Yildirim, Beautiful Bitch by Martin Theo Krieger, And Along Come Tourists by Robert Thalheim, the documentary To the Limit by Pepe Danquart, the children’s film Red Zora by Peter Kahane and the TV movie Rose by Alain Gsponer.
Lothar Herzog was also in Buenos Aires to represent German Films’ NEXT GENERATION 2008 program and presented his film Yuppy Cars to an enthusiastic audience. The silent movie Hamlet by Sven Gade and Heinz Schall closed up the event with live musical accompaniment by the Seronoser Quartett.
CINE-REGIO IN LEIPZIG
The Mitteldeutsche Medienfoerderung (MDM) will host this year’s Cine-Regio Annual Meeting, which takes place during the 51st International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film (27 October – 2 November). Cine-Regio is a network of regional film funds in Europe and was established in 2005 as an independent nonprofit association. The network today represents 33 funds from 15 countries. Cine-Regio’s main objectives are to exchange information for the benefit of the European film industry, to promote regional audiovisual interests towards European institutions and to strengthen co-production activities, including creative exchange and know-how throughout Europe. The Annual Meeting’s agenda, amongst others, features discussions on members’ activities in the field of children’s and documentary film, and speakers from the European Commission and European Audiovisual Observatory.
RENDEZ-VOUS IN HAMBURG
The Hanseatic City of Hamburg will be hosting the sixth Rendez-Vous Franco-Allemand du Cinéma. Some 400 representatives from France and Germany will meet from 20 – 22 November to discuss current film industry issues on various panels. Topics include co-productions, means of funding, and digital cinema projection. The Senate of Hamburg is holding a reception and dinner in the Town Hall, after which alumni of the German-French Masterclass of the Ludwigsburg Film Academy will throw a party for all the Rendez-Vous guests. “The three-day event will deepen the contacts established between our two countries throughout the past years. As hosts, we will do our best to enthuse our French guests and the entire German film industry for Hamburg as an ambitious, cosmopolitan film city,” says Eva Hubert, who, as executive director of Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, is helping to finance and organize the meeting in cooperation with Unifrance and German Films, the Centre National Cinématographie (CNC), the German Federal Film Board (FFA), other regional film funding institutions, the Chamber of Commerce Hamburg and the Free & Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
PREMIERES IN TORONTO
With a total of 36 productions in the festival's various sections, the German film industry had a very high profile at the 33rd Toronto International Film Festival (4-13 September 2008).
Four films celebrated their eagerly awaited world premieres at the festival and were received very favorably by audiences and critics alike: A Year Ago In Winter by Caroline Link as a Gala Presentation, A Woman in Berlin by Max Faerberboeck as a Special Presentation, as well as Krabat by Marco Kreuzpaintner and Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worms by Thomas Borch Nielsen (DK/DE) in the Sprockets Family Zone section. Other films presented at Toronto included Tonight by Werner Schroeter (FR/DE/PT) in Masters, Jerichow by Christian Petzold, Cloud 9 by Andreas Dresen, My Mother, My Bride, and I by Hans Steinbichler in Contemporary World Cinema, and the documentaries The Heart of Jenin by Leon Geller and Marcus Vetter, Peace Mission by Dorothee Wenner and Upstream Battle by Ben Kempas in Real to Reel. Most of the directors attended the festival to personally introduce their films to enthusiastic audiences.
German Films provided information about the German film industry at a stand at the Sales & Industry area in the Sutton Place Hotel. Together with the Goethe-Institut and the German Consulate Toronto, German Films hosted a reception where the German and international festival guests could exchange ideas for new upcoming projects and potential co-productions.