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Made at the height of Anna May Wong’s fame in Europe, Pavement Butterfly was a coproduction between Germany and Britain and filmed on location in Nice, France. In this silent film, Wong plays a dancer in the French Riviera who, after her act takes a deadly turn, finds refuge in the arms of a young painter.Read More »
“Rarely has an adaptation of a vibrant literary text been able to create such energy…” ~Berlinale
Synopsis:
A farm on the German-German border that recently stopped being a border, in the summer of 1990. Family members from the West visit and everyone is feeling their way through these uncertain new times as everyday life goes on in the summer heat. Son Johannes has turned the farmhouse’s attic into a refuge for his girlfriend Maria and himself. Maria is reading Dostoevsky and wanders through meadows, engaged in a search for the meaning of life. Her encounter with Henner, a much older neighbour, becomes her testing ground, drawing her in, like fate.Read More »
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The Reader’s Hannah Herzsprug stars in this quirky romantic comedy about a rebellious young poet on a quest to learn about real love. Pink, a feisty young poet, writes malicious and controversial love poems which she recites to her dedicated fans at live performances akin to rock concerts throughout Germany.
Never a true believer in love, Pink decides to pick one of her three suitors to marry. Deciding systematically, Pink makes her decisions using her calculator, maintaining each relationship via text message. Despite having made what she thought to be a thorough investigation, she chooses the wrong man on two occasions. Will Pink be third time lucky?Read More »
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A day in the life of the 21 years old Deniz, who aims to become an actress and makes her living by dubbing movies. After she has split with her old boyfriend she gets to know Diego and spends the evening with him.Read More »
Synopsis
Ferien (Vacation, 2007) was perhaps the festival’s best German feature. Thomas Arslan’s latest outlines the strained composition of a family and the disintegration of a marriage, set in a luminous Brandenburg summer. The film is confined: the story takes place almost exclusively on the grounds of the mother’s country house and the cinematic language speaks only static shots and long takes. Just at the very end of the film does one see the whole family together. Arslan’s feat reveals the shifting constellations of family members in individual conversations and encounters: the grandmother is tender and wise while alone with granddaughter Laura, cold when Laura’s sister Sophie enters, and bitchy in scenes with her daughter Anna. Read More »
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The filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger has made a name for herself with her unique feature films and documentaries, such as Madame X – Eine absolute Herrscherin (1978), Bildnis einer Trinkerin (1979), Freak Orlando (1981), Johanna D’Arc of Mongolia (1989), Prater (2007) and Unter Schnee (2011).
Her unusual ideas and approach are marked by subtle humour and an exalted style. Her subjects are always guided by intimate female perspectives of other worlds, whether they concern travel, history or unexpected situations. Until now there has been no film portrait of the artist. This film is about the life and work of an extraordinary woman and captures an era characterised by the emergence of women in the arts. More than any other female artist, Ulrike Ottinger enriched the film landscape of the time with surreal, original and extreme films. Read More »
A fifteen year-old girl experiencing the first pangs of womanhood accompanies her mentally retarded brother as he begins to experience his sexual awakening in this effort from German director Sven Taddicken. Approaching his thirtieth birthday but possessing a mind developed years behind his physical growth, Josh (Roman Knizka) likes to pretend he’s a vampire while joking with sister Nicole (Marie-Luise Schramm). Meanwhile, security guard brother Mike (innerk Schonemann), quickly racking up a long list of sexual conquests, has recently added yet another notch in his belt with the seduction of his boss Nadine (Julia Jentsch). When Nic and Josh spy Mike and Nadine in the throws of passion, Nic’s sexual curiosity reaches a fever pitch and Josh impulsively focuses his newfound lust on Nadine. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie GuideRead More »
Viola Shafik’s documentary explores the story of El Hedi ben Salem, a lover and collaborator of provocative German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.Read More »
Synopsis:
A man bored with his wife goes to the Munich Oktoberfest. He meets a pregnant student who discusses the problems of bourgeois marriage with him and finally returns home disappointed. “The dialogues are peculiar, the man not very sympathetic, a feminist emphasis is occasionally perceptible that does not directly facilitate understanding. The men’s interest in women is examined, and whether this can be associated with love or merely with pastime, curiosity, frustration.” (Doris Kuhn: Die Stärke der Frauen, in: Formen der Liebe. Die Filme von Rudolf Thome, Marburg 2010)Read More »