Akin’s new film is a gangster drama called ‘Rheingold’.
Fatih Akin’s gangster drama Rheingold and Michael Bully Herbig’s media satire 1000 Lines are among the new film projects to receive funding from Hamburg’s Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein (Ffhsh) and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (Mbb).
Akin’s gangster biopic is based on the 2015 book Alles oder Nix by the German hip hop rapper and label boss Xatar. It received €700,000 – the largest single amount at last week’s sitting of Hamburg’s committee for high-end films and series with production budgets over €3.5m.
Akin’s bombero international is producing the film which...
Fatih Akin’s gangster drama Rheingold and Michael Bully Herbig’s media satire 1000 Lines are among the new film projects to receive funding from Hamburg’s Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein (Ffhsh) and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (Mbb).
Akin’s gangster biopic is based on the 2015 book Alles oder Nix by the German hip hop rapper and label boss Xatar. It received €700,000 – the largest single amount at last week’s sitting of Hamburg’s committee for high-end films and series with production budgets over €3.5m.
Akin’s bombero international is producing the film which...
- 2/22/2021
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Akin’s new film is a gangster drama called ‘Rheingold’.
Fatih Akin’s gangster drama Rheingold and Michael Bully Herbig’s media satire 1000 Lines are among the new film projects to receive funding from Hamburg’s Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein (Ffhsh) and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (Mbb).
Akin’s gangster biopic is based on the 2015 book Alles oder Nix by the German hip hop rapper and label boss Xatar. It received €700,000 - the largest single amount at last week’s sitting of Hamburg’s committee for high-end films and series with production budgets over €3.5m.
Akin’s bombero international is producing the film...
Fatih Akin’s gangster drama Rheingold and Michael Bully Herbig’s media satire 1000 Lines are among the new film projects to receive funding from Hamburg’s Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein (Ffhsh) and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (Mbb).
Akin’s gangster biopic is based on the 2015 book Alles oder Nix by the German hip hop rapper and label boss Xatar. It received €700,000 - the largest single amount at last week’s sitting of Hamburg’s committee for high-end films and series with production budgets over €3.5m.
Akin’s bombero international is producing the film...
- 2/22/2021
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Sky Studios is teaming with French major Gaumont on comedy The Wasp, which is being produced for Sky Deutschland.
The six-part series tells the story of Eddie Frotzke, a fallen professional dart player who, after a prolonged career slump, wants to return to his former glory. With the help of his old buddy Nobbe, also a rusty dart pro but with a strong tendency to alcohol, Eddie wants to find his way back into life and his career, proving that he was not called ‘The Wasp’ for nothing.
Jan Berger (Der Medicus) create and wrote the series which will be directed Hermine Huntgeburth (Neue Vahr Süd). Florian Lukas (Good Bye Lenin!) is playing the lead role. Andreas Bareiss and Sabine de Mardt executive produce for Gaumont with Quirin Schmidt for Sky Studios.
Shooting is scheduled to begin later this year and the project is supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw...
The six-part series tells the story of Eddie Frotzke, a fallen professional dart player who, after a prolonged career slump, wants to return to his former glory. With the help of his old buddy Nobbe, also a rusty dart pro but with a strong tendency to alcohol, Eddie wants to find his way back into life and his career, proving that he was not called ‘The Wasp’ for nothing.
Jan Berger (Der Medicus) create and wrote the series which will be directed Hermine Huntgeburth (Neue Vahr Süd). Florian Lukas (Good Bye Lenin!) is playing the lead role. Andreas Bareiss and Sabine de Mardt executive produce for Gaumont with Quirin Schmidt for Sky Studios.
Shooting is scheduled to begin later this year and the project is supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw...
- 2/17/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Sky Studios and Gaumont have teamed on “The Wasp,” the first Sky original comedy to be produced for Sky Deutschland.
The six-part series follows Eddie Frotzke, a fallen professional dart player who, after a prolonged career slump, wants to return to his former glory. With the help of his old buddy Nobbe, also a rusty dart pro but dealing with a drinking habit, Eddie wants to find his way back into life and his career, proving that he was not called “The Wasp” for nothing.
The series is created and written by Jan Berger (“Der Medicus”) and will be directed by Hermine Huntgeburth. Florian Lukas (“Good Bye Lenin!”) will play Eddie. Andreas Bareiss and Sabine de Mardt are executive producing for Gaumont with Quirin Schmidt for Sky Studios.
Shooting is scheduled to begin later this year. The project is supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw and the Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg.
The six-part series follows Eddie Frotzke, a fallen professional dart player who, after a prolonged career slump, wants to return to his former glory. With the help of his old buddy Nobbe, also a rusty dart pro but dealing with a drinking habit, Eddie wants to find his way back into life and his career, proving that he was not called “The Wasp” for nothing.
The series is created and written by Jan Berger (“Der Medicus”) and will be directed by Hermine Huntgeburth. Florian Lukas (“Good Bye Lenin!”) will play Eddie. Andreas Bareiss and Sabine de Mardt are executive producing for Gaumont with Quirin Schmidt for Sky Studios.
Shooting is scheduled to begin later this year. The project is supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw and the Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg.
- 2/17/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
“System Crasher,” Nora Fingscheidt’s social drama about a troubled young girl, swept the 70th German Film Awards on Friday, winning a total of eight Lolas, including best film, director, actress and actor.
Forced to revamp this year’s ceremony due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the German Film Academy did away with its traditional gala event and instead produced a stripped-down show tailor-made for television that proved uniquely spontaneous, innovative and entertaining.
Hosted by actor Edin Hasanovic (“Skylines”), the show, broadcast live from Berlin and airing on Ard’s Das Erste, featured guest entertainers, actors and presenters in the studio as well as filmmakers, award winners and musicians taking part via video feed from their homes, including a musical performance by Gregory Porter from Los Angeles.
In addition to best film and director awards, “System Crasher” won Fingscheidt the screenplay Lola, best actress for Helena Zengel, supporting actress for...
Forced to revamp this year’s ceremony due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the German Film Academy did away with its traditional gala event and instead produced a stripped-down show tailor-made for television that proved uniquely spontaneous, innovative and entertaining.
Hosted by actor Edin Hasanovic (“Skylines”), the show, broadcast live from Berlin and airing on Ard’s Das Erste, featured guest entertainers, actors and presenters in the studio as well as filmmakers, award winners and musicians taking part via video feed from their homes, including a musical performance by Gregory Porter from Los Angeles.
In addition to best film and director awards, “System Crasher” won Fingscheidt the screenplay Lola, best actress for Helena Zengel, supporting actress for...
- 4/25/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s German Film Award nominees for best picture include hard-hitting social dramas, tales of romance and cultural divides, family relationships and musical icons as well as works by a growing number of filmmakers from diverse ethnic backgrounds. The German Film Academy, forced to revamp its 70th German Film Awards ceremony due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, will honor the country’s most acclaimed films during a special live TV presentation on April 24.
The German Film Awards ceremony, which in the past aired pre-recorded on Zdf, will be broadcast live for the first time on Ard’s Das Erste, due in part to its remade and shortened presentation. Doing away with its traditional gala event, the show will instead include guest filmmakers, musicians and presenters taking part via video feed from their homes.
Six films are vying for the best picture trophy, nicknamed the Lola, among them Burhan Qurbani’s “Berlin Alexanderplatz,...
The German Film Awards ceremony, which in the past aired pre-recorded on Zdf, will be broadcast live for the first time on Ard’s Das Erste, due in part to its remade and shortened presentation. Doing away with its traditional gala event, the show will instead include guest filmmakers, musicians and presenters taking part via video feed from their homes.
Six films are vying for the best picture trophy, nicknamed the Lola, among them Burhan Qurbani’s “Berlin Alexanderplatz,...
- 4/23/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Art imitates life until the line between them blurs in “Europa, ‘Based on a True Story,’” Rwandan director Kivu Ruhorahoza’s provocative portrayal of a love affair gone bad that mirrors the growing social and racial tensions in Great Britain and Europe. Produced by Anthony Rui Ribeiro for Moon Road Films and co-produced by Cocoon Production, with MaryEllen Higgins executive producing, the film world premieres in competition at Idfa on Nov. 27.
After his first two fiction features earned critical plaudits and A-list festival premieres, Ruhorahoza took up residence in the U.K. to shoot his new movie, “A Tree Has Fallen,” which was intended to be a drama about a mysterious Nigerian man who returns to London to settle the fallout from a messy love triangle.
Little did the director know that British politics and life in the U.K. were about to get even messier. “My initial plan was...
After his first two fiction features earned critical plaudits and A-list festival premieres, Ruhorahoza took up residence in the U.K. to shoot his new movie, “A Tree Has Fallen,” which was intended to be a drama about a mysterious Nigerian man who returns to London to settle the fallout from a messy love triangle.
Little did the director know that British politics and life in the U.K. were about to get even messier. “My initial plan was...
- 11/27/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov has been sentenced to 20 years in a verdict passed today (Aug 25) by a military court in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don.
His co-defendant, the activist and anti-fascist Alexander Kolchenko, was sentenced to 10 years.
The judge found Sentsov guilty of setting up a terrorist organisation and committing two terrorist acts.
When asked by the presiding judge Sergei Mikhailyuk whether they understood the verdicts, Sentsov and Kolchenko responded by defiantly singing the Ukrainian national anthem Ukraine Has Not Yet Died.
Sentsov, best known for his 2011 film Gamer, was arrested in May 2014 during a protest against Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula two months earlier.
The 39-year-old director was accused of plotting to blow up a monument to Lenin in Crimea and set fire to the Crimean offices of pro-Moscow political organisations.
The Ukrainian government said he is being punished for being a Crimea-based pro-Ukrainian activist. Russia denies claims he is a political prisoner.
Sentsov denies...
His co-defendant, the activist and anti-fascist Alexander Kolchenko, was sentenced to 10 years.
The judge found Sentsov guilty of setting up a terrorist organisation and committing two terrorist acts.
When asked by the presiding judge Sergei Mikhailyuk whether they understood the verdicts, Sentsov and Kolchenko responded by defiantly singing the Ukrainian national anthem Ukraine Has Not Yet Died.
Sentsov, best known for his 2011 film Gamer, was arrested in May 2014 during a protest against Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula two months earlier.
The 39-year-old director was accused of plotting to blow up a monument to Lenin in Crimea and set fire to the Crimean offices of pro-Moscow political organisations.
The Ukrainian government said he is being punished for being a Crimea-based pro-Ukrainian activist. Russia denies claims he is a political prisoner.
Sentsov denies...
- 8/25/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
The jury will select ten actors to be showcased at next year’s Berlinale from a 24-strong shortlist.
European Film Promotion (Efp) has announced the five members of the Shooting Stars jury for 2014.
The jury consists of Norwegian actor and fortmer Shooting Star Anders Baasmo Christiansen, UK film critic and editor Charles Gant, German film director Hermine Huntgeburth, Croatian casting director Oriana Kunčić and film producer Jani Thiltges from Luxembourg.
24 Efp member countries have nominated one emerging actor from their territory to be considered as a 2014 Shooting Star, and the jury will select the final list of ten actors to be showcased to the international film community and entertainment media at next year’s Berlinale (Feb 6-14).
The three-day event during the first weekend of the festival will culminate in the annual awards ceremony, where each actor will be honoured with the Shooting Star award, presented by Tesiro, on the main festival stage.
Shooting Stars is financially...
European Film Promotion (Efp) has announced the five members of the Shooting Stars jury for 2014.
The jury consists of Norwegian actor and fortmer Shooting Star Anders Baasmo Christiansen, UK film critic and editor Charles Gant, German film director Hermine Huntgeburth, Croatian casting director Oriana Kunčić and film producer Jani Thiltges from Luxembourg.
24 Efp member countries have nominated one emerging actor from their territory to be considered as a 2014 Shooting Star, and the jury will select the final list of ten actors to be showcased to the international film community and entertainment media at next year’s Berlinale (Feb 6-14).
The three-day event during the first weekend of the festival will culminate in the annual awards ceremony, where each actor will be honoured with the Shooting Star award, presented by Tesiro, on the main festival stage.
Shooting Stars is financially...
- 11/13/2013
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
Hosted at one of Hollywood's most iconic venues, The Egyptian Theater, the German Currents Film Festivals brings to Los Angeles an outstanding selection of new cinematic works screening here for the first time. Now in its 7th edition this annual celebration of German-Language is co-presented by the Goethe Institut Los Angeles and the American Cinematheque, in cooperation with Austrian Consulate General and the Consulate General of Switzerland; with support of German Films, Deutsche Welle (Dw), The Friends of Goethe and Elma.
The festival includes narrative feature, documentaries, shorts, and family-friendly films that form part of the 4 day celebration from October 4th-7th. One of the highlights of the program is More Than Honey, which was recently chosen as the Swiss entry for the Foreign Language Academy Award, read more Here, which will be closing the festival on Monday night.
To discuss the film and interact with La audiences some of the filmmakers will also be in attendance:
Rayna Campbell - lead actress, Layla Fourie (North American Premiere)
Matt Sweetwood - director, Beerland (La Premiere)
Jan Ole Gerster - director, Oh Boy
Ennis Rotthoff - composer, Measuring The World (Us Premiere)
For more information click Here
For tickets and information about the Egyptian Theater click Here
Gala Opening Night - Us Premiere
Friday, October 4, At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Measuring The World (Die Vermessung Der Welt)
Directed by Detlev Buck
Two of the greatest minds of the 19th century, mathematician Carl Friederich Gauss (Florian David Fritz) and scientist Alexander von Humboldt (Albrecht Abraham Schuch), dedicate their studies to measuring and comprehending the world they live in. Based on Daniel Kehlmann's best-selling novel of the same name, this visually stunning epic is a playful re-imagining of the great men’s lives. Humboldt, a man with a passion for global exploration, is contrasted with Gauss, a man who experiences his world through mathematical theories and figures. Humboldt, aided by his colleague, Aimé Bonpland, travels the globe physically engaging the world he wishes to understand, applying modern, scientific thinking to comparatively unknown regions. Though he remains in the same destitute community for much of his life, Gauss’ interior journey of mathematical discovery proves to be just as rich and visually stunning as Humboldt’s adventures in remote areas of the world. Fact and fiction are mixed, often to humorous effect, to chronicle the findings of two very different men who nevertheless sought the same answers. Measuring The World was nominated for two German Film Awards in 2013, and the film has won Best Costume Design and Best Make-up Design awards at the 2013 Austrian Film Awards.
In Person: Composer Enis Rotthoff
Germany / Austria (2012), 123 min. In German, French, Spanish with English Subtitles
Saturday, October 5, At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature
Oh Boy
Directed by Jan Ole Gerster
Jan Ole Gerster's wry and vibrant feature debut Oh Boy, which swept the 2013 German Film Awards, paints a day in the life of Niko, a twenty-something college dropout going nowhere fast. Niko lives for the moment as he drifts through the streets of Berlin, curiously observing everyone around him and oblivious to his growing status as an outsider. Then on one fateful day, through a series of absurdly amusing encounters, everything changes: his girlfriend rebuffs him, his father cuts off his allowance, and a strange psychiatrist dubiously confirms his 'emotional imbalance'. Meanwhile, a former classmate insists she bears no hard feelings toward him for his grade-school taunts when she was “Roly Poly Julia,” but it becomes increasingly apparent that she has unfinished business with him. Unable to ignore the consequences of his passivity any longer, Niko finally concludes that he has to engage with life. Shot in timeless black and white and enriched with a snappy jazz soundtrack, this slacker dramedy is a love letter to Berlin and the Generation Y experience.
In Person: Director Jan Ole Gerster
Germany (2012), 85 min. In German with English subtitles
Us Distributor: Music Box Films
Saturday, October 5 At 9:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - L.A. Premiere
Beerland
Directed by Matt Sweetwood
Matt Sweetwood hails from the Midwest. Though he has lived in Germany for over ten years, the people and their culture remain a mystery to him. He undertakes a last-ditch attempt to figure the place out: by exploring the heart of German culture, their beer. If he delves into their rites and rituals, explores all the contradictions and stereotypes, will that make him, finally, a part of them? The infinite variety of beers, breweries and beer fests, the age-old history of beer, is more overwhelming than the American ever imagined. The trail of his research leads him to places far off the beaten tourist path, light-years away from the Oktoberfest. He encounters people whose dialect he barely understands. Amazingly, he finds that a country as small a Germany is subdivided into a thousand different tongues and customs, with beer as the common thread. He discovers a land full of oddities and contradictions. The Germans are deathly serious and silly at the same time, tradition-bound and weirdly visionary. Ultimately, he forms a real bond with them, finding friends where he least expected them.
In Person: Director Matt Sweetwood
Germany (2012), 85 min. In German and English with English Subtitles
Kindermatinee
Sunday, October 6 - 2:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
The Adventures of Huck Finn (Die Abenteuer Des Huck Finn)
Directed by Hermine Huntgeburth
A lively German language adaptation of Mark Twain’s classic satire. Huck Finn, having found treasure with his best friend Tom Sawyer, is now chafing in the shoes and starched shirts that come with his new wealthy lifestyle. He’d like nothing more than to kick off his shoes and run wild along the river. He gets his chance when his drunken father (August Diehl) arrives and demands a share of Huck’s money. Huck decides to escape downriver and he brings along Jim, the house slave who has recently discovered that he will be handed over to a slave trader. The two travel the Mississippi River on a makeshift raft, hoping to outrun Huck’s violent father and find a place where Jim can be accepted as a free man. Twain’s timeless adventure is exuberantly brought to the screen in a film that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Germany (2012), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Film Workshops
Sunday, October 6 - 1:00 - 1:50 Pm & 4:00 - 4:50 Pm
Join the Echo Park Film Center for an afternoon of cinematic exploration and education with the Epfc "Filmcicle" in the courtyard of the Egyptian Theatre. The "Filmcicle" is a bicycle powered cinema and school on 3 wheels. Using traditional analog motion picture film we encourage audience members - young and old - to spend some time with us creating cinematic wonder.
www.echoparkfilmcenter.org
Sunday, October 6 At 5:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - Us Premiere
Gold
Directed by Thomas Arslan; starring Nina Hoss
Official selection (competition) at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Gold is a Western about seven German immigrants who set out in search of gold in the backwoods of British Columbia during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. Each have their motives: an older couple seeking security, a father (Lars Rudolph) hoping to help his impoverished family, an unpleasant newspaperman (Uwe Bohm) chronicling the journey, and a mysterious packer (Marko Mandic) with a past to outrun. The last to join is Emily Mayer (Nina Hoss), a metropolitan woman whose delicate demeanor masks a steely determination to survive. Assembled by a deceptively confident businessman of questionable motives, the settlers must travel through a relatively uncharted stretch of Canadian wilderness to reach their goal, the gold fields of Dawson. As the path grows more treacherous, betrayals come to light and desperate choices are made. Following in the footsteps of McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Meek’s Cutoff, Gold is an epic that offers an unconventional take on the well-worn Western genre.
Germany (2013), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Sunday, October 6, At 7:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - North American Premiere
Layla Fourie
Directed by Pia Marais
Winner of the Jury Special Mention at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Layla Frourie is a film about Layla, who is a single mother living with her son in Johannesburg and getting by with casual work. After training as a polygraph operator she manages to secure a job with a company specialising in lie detectors and security. On her way to her new workplace she is involved in an accident which will fundamentally change her life. Layla becomes entangled in a web of lies and deceit. The truth could lead to the loss of her son. For her third feature film Pia Marais - who has lived in Berlin for many years - returned to South Africa where she grew up to make this classic thriller. She uses the genre to take a look at a country which still bears the scars of apartheid. In this way, everyday life in South Africa enhances the tension in the screenplay which she co-wrote with Horst Markgraf. Almost casually, Layla Fourie develops into a political thriller which takes the audience into the paranoia, fear and mistrust of a society that is still profoundly affected by racial conflict.
Germany (2013), 108 min. In English
In Person: lead actress Rayna Campbell
Monday, October 7 At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - L.A. Premiere
The Shine of the Day (Der Glanz Des Tages)
Directed by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel
Philip (Philip Hochmair) is is a young and successful actor working for the most important theatres in Vienna and Hamburg with a committed and single-minded approach to his craft. During a season in which he is busy with a production of Buchner’s Woyzeck, Philip is visited by the elderly Walter (Walter Saabel), who introduces himself as the uncle he’s never met. Walter is a former circus artist and the two men soon bond over stories of their careers. These two entertainers, both at different stages in their lives, learn from each other’s experiences. As his conversations with Walter grow more philosophical, Philip slowly emerges from his once isolated lifestyle. He is even inspired to enlist Walter’s assistance in helping a Moldavian neighbor with an immigration issue. The actors, though not related, essentially play themselves and the largely improvised script was developed around their personal experiences. The result is a rare onscreen friendship that feels warm and sincere. Co-directors Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel draw on their documentary filmmaking background to create a naturalistic atmosphere in which these performances can flourish.
Austria (2012), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Monday, October 7 At 9:15 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature
More Than Honey
Directed by Markus Imhoof
Winner of multiple awards, including 2013 German Film Award (Lola) for Best Documentary film, More Than Honey, directed by Oscar-nominated director Markus Imhoof (The Boat Is Full) tackles the vexing issue of why bees, worldwide, are facing extinction. With the tenacity of a man out to solve a world-class mystery, he investigates this global phenomenon, from California to Switzerland, China and Australia. Exquisite macro-photography of the bees (reminiscent of Microcosmos) in flight and in their hives reveals a fascinating, complex world in crisis. Writes Eric Kohn in Indiewire: "Imhoof captures the breeding of queen bees in minute detail, ventures to a laboratory to witness a bee brainscan, and discovers the dangerous prospects of a hive facing the infection of mites. In this latter case, the camera's magnifying power renders the infection in sci-fi terms, as if we've stumbled into a discarded scene from David Cronenberg's The Fly." This is a strange and strangely moving film that raises questions of species survival in cosmic as well as apiary terms.
Switzerland/Germany/Austria (2012), 90 min. In English and German w/English subtitles
Us Distributor: Kino Lorber...
The festival includes narrative feature, documentaries, shorts, and family-friendly films that form part of the 4 day celebration from October 4th-7th. One of the highlights of the program is More Than Honey, which was recently chosen as the Swiss entry for the Foreign Language Academy Award, read more Here, which will be closing the festival on Monday night.
To discuss the film and interact with La audiences some of the filmmakers will also be in attendance:
Rayna Campbell - lead actress, Layla Fourie (North American Premiere)
Matt Sweetwood - director, Beerland (La Premiere)
Jan Ole Gerster - director, Oh Boy
Ennis Rotthoff - composer, Measuring The World (Us Premiere)
For more information click Here
For tickets and information about the Egyptian Theater click Here
Gala Opening Night - Us Premiere
Friday, October 4, At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Measuring The World (Die Vermessung Der Welt)
Directed by Detlev Buck
Two of the greatest minds of the 19th century, mathematician Carl Friederich Gauss (Florian David Fritz) and scientist Alexander von Humboldt (Albrecht Abraham Schuch), dedicate their studies to measuring and comprehending the world they live in. Based on Daniel Kehlmann's best-selling novel of the same name, this visually stunning epic is a playful re-imagining of the great men’s lives. Humboldt, a man with a passion for global exploration, is contrasted with Gauss, a man who experiences his world through mathematical theories and figures. Humboldt, aided by his colleague, Aimé Bonpland, travels the globe physically engaging the world he wishes to understand, applying modern, scientific thinking to comparatively unknown regions. Though he remains in the same destitute community for much of his life, Gauss’ interior journey of mathematical discovery proves to be just as rich and visually stunning as Humboldt’s adventures in remote areas of the world. Fact and fiction are mixed, often to humorous effect, to chronicle the findings of two very different men who nevertheless sought the same answers. Measuring The World was nominated for two German Film Awards in 2013, and the film has won Best Costume Design and Best Make-up Design awards at the 2013 Austrian Film Awards.
In Person: Composer Enis Rotthoff
Germany / Austria (2012), 123 min. In German, French, Spanish with English Subtitles
Saturday, October 5, At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature
Oh Boy
Directed by Jan Ole Gerster
Jan Ole Gerster's wry and vibrant feature debut Oh Boy, which swept the 2013 German Film Awards, paints a day in the life of Niko, a twenty-something college dropout going nowhere fast. Niko lives for the moment as he drifts through the streets of Berlin, curiously observing everyone around him and oblivious to his growing status as an outsider. Then on one fateful day, through a series of absurdly amusing encounters, everything changes: his girlfriend rebuffs him, his father cuts off his allowance, and a strange psychiatrist dubiously confirms his 'emotional imbalance'. Meanwhile, a former classmate insists she bears no hard feelings toward him for his grade-school taunts when she was “Roly Poly Julia,” but it becomes increasingly apparent that she has unfinished business with him. Unable to ignore the consequences of his passivity any longer, Niko finally concludes that he has to engage with life. Shot in timeless black and white and enriched with a snappy jazz soundtrack, this slacker dramedy is a love letter to Berlin and the Generation Y experience.
In Person: Director Jan Ole Gerster
Germany (2012), 85 min. In German with English subtitles
Us Distributor: Music Box Films
Saturday, October 5 At 9:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - L.A. Premiere
Beerland
Directed by Matt Sweetwood
Matt Sweetwood hails from the Midwest. Though he has lived in Germany for over ten years, the people and their culture remain a mystery to him. He undertakes a last-ditch attempt to figure the place out: by exploring the heart of German culture, their beer. If he delves into their rites and rituals, explores all the contradictions and stereotypes, will that make him, finally, a part of them? The infinite variety of beers, breweries and beer fests, the age-old history of beer, is more overwhelming than the American ever imagined. The trail of his research leads him to places far off the beaten tourist path, light-years away from the Oktoberfest. He encounters people whose dialect he barely understands. Amazingly, he finds that a country as small a Germany is subdivided into a thousand different tongues and customs, with beer as the common thread. He discovers a land full of oddities and contradictions. The Germans are deathly serious and silly at the same time, tradition-bound and weirdly visionary. Ultimately, he forms a real bond with them, finding friends where he least expected them.
In Person: Director Matt Sweetwood
Germany (2012), 85 min. In German and English with English Subtitles
Kindermatinee
Sunday, October 6 - 2:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
The Adventures of Huck Finn (Die Abenteuer Des Huck Finn)
Directed by Hermine Huntgeburth
A lively German language adaptation of Mark Twain’s classic satire. Huck Finn, having found treasure with his best friend Tom Sawyer, is now chafing in the shoes and starched shirts that come with his new wealthy lifestyle. He’d like nothing more than to kick off his shoes and run wild along the river. He gets his chance when his drunken father (August Diehl) arrives and demands a share of Huck’s money. Huck decides to escape downriver and he brings along Jim, the house slave who has recently discovered that he will be handed over to a slave trader. The two travel the Mississippi River on a makeshift raft, hoping to outrun Huck’s violent father and find a place where Jim can be accepted as a free man. Twain’s timeless adventure is exuberantly brought to the screen in a film that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Germany (2012), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Film Workshops
Sunday, October 6 - 1:00 - 1:50 Pm & 4:00 - 4:50 Pm
Join the Echo Park Film Center for an afternoon of cinematic exploration and education with the Epfc "Filmcicle" in the courtyard of the Egyptian Theatre. The "Filmcicle" is a bicycle powered cinema and school on 3 wheels. Using traditional analog motion picture film we encourage audience members - young and old - to spend some time with us creating cinematic wonder.
www.echoparkfilmcenter.org
Sunday, October 6 At 5:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - Us Premiere
Gold
Directed by Thomas Arslan; starring Nina Hoss
Official selection (competition) at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Gold is a Western about seven German immigrants who set out in search of gold in the backwoods of British Columbia during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. Each have their motives: an older couple seeking security, a father (Lars Rudolph) hoping to help his impoverished family, an unpleasant newspaperman (Uwe Bohm) chronicling the journey, and a mysterious packer (Marko Mandic) with a past to outrun. The last to join is Emily Mayer (Nina Hoss), a metropolitan woman whose delicate demeanor masks a steely determination to survive. Assembled by a deceptively confident businessman of questionable motives, the settlers must travel through a relatively uncharted stretch of Canadian wilderness to reach their goal, the gold fields of Dawson. As the path grows more treacherous, betrayals come to light and desperate choices are made. Following in the footsteps of McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Meek’s Cutoff, Gold is an epic that offers an unconventional take on the well-worn Western genre.
Germany (2013), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Sunday, October 6, At 7:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - North American Premiere
Layla Fourie
Directed by Pia Marais
Winner of the Jury Special Mention at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Layla Frourie is a film about Layla, who is a single mother living with her son in Johannesburg and getting by with casual work. After training as a polygraph operator she manages to secure a job with a company specialising in lie detectors and security. On her way to her new workplace she is involved in an accident which will fundamentally change her life. Layla becomes entangled in a web of lies and deceit. The truth could lead to the loss of her son. For her third feature film Pia Marais - who has lived in Berlin for many years - returned to South Africa where she grew up to make this classic thriller. She uses the genre to take a look at a country which still bears the scars of apartheid. In this way, everyday life in South Africa enhances the tension in the screenplay which she co-wrote with Horst Markgraf. Almost casually, Layla Fourie develops into a political thriller which takes the audience into the paranoia, fear and mistrust of a society that is still profoundly affected by racial conflict.
Germany (2013), 108 min. In English
In Person: lead actress Rayna Campbell
Monday, October 7 At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - L.A. Premiere
The Shine of the Day (Der Glanz Des Tages)
Directed by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel
Philip (Philip Hochmair) is is a young and successful actor working for the most important theatres in Vienna and Hamburg with a committed and single-minded approach to his craft. During a season in which he is busy with a production of Buchner’s Woyzeck, Philip is visited by the elderly Walter (Walter Saabel), who introduces himself as the uncle he’s never met. Walter is a former circus artist and the two men soon bond over stories of their careers. These two entertainers, both at different stages in their lives, learn from each other’s experiences. As his conversations with Walter grow more philosophical, Philip slowly emerges from his once isolated lifestyle. He is even inspired to enlist Walter’s assistance in helping a Moldavian neighbor with an immigration issue. The actors, though not related, essentially play themselves and the largely improvised script was developed around their personal experiences. The result is a rare onscreen friendship that feels warm and sincere. Co-directors Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel draw on their documentary filmmaking background to create a naturalistic atmosphere in which these performances can flourish.
Austria (2012), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Monday, October 7 At 9:15 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature
More Than Honey
Directed by Markus Imhoof
Winner of multiple awards, including 2013 German Film Award (Lola) for Best Documentary film, More Than Honey, directed by Oscar-nominated director Markus Imhoof (The Boat Is Full) tackles the vexing issue of why bees, worldwide, are facing extinction. With the tenacity of a man out to solve a world-class mystery, he investigates this global phenomenon, from California to Switzerland, China and Australia. Exquisite macro-photography of the bees (reminiscent of Microcosmos) in flight and in their hives reveals a fascinating, complex world in crisis. Writes Eric Kohn in Indiewire: "Imhoof captures the breeding of queen bees in minute detail, ventures to a laboratory to witness a bee brainscan, and discovers the dangerous prospects of a hive facing the infection of mites. In this latter case, the camera's magnifying power renders the infection in sci-fi terms, as if we've stumbled into a discarded scene from David Cronenberg's The Fly." This is a strange and strangely moving film that raises questions of species survival in cosmic as well as apiary terms.
Switzerland/Germany/Austria (2012), 90 min. In English and German w/English subtitles
Us Distributor: Kino Lorber...
- 10/4/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Germany’s Zum Goldenen Lamm Filmproduktion, the producer of Marc Rensing’s The Woman Who Dares which has its world premiere at Zurich, is currently shooting the feature debuts from Marc Brumund and Christina Schiewe.
Brummund is tackling the subject of abuse at Church-run institutions in Freistatt, shooting at the real-life reformatory of the same name in Lower Saxony, which was the scene of such abuse in the past.
The screenplay, co-written with Nicole Armbruster, was awarded the Emden Screenplay Prize last year and the Golden Lola for Best German Screenplay during February’s Berlinale.
The cast is headed by Louis Hofmann, who played Tom Sawyer in Hermine Huntgeburth’s Twain adaptation last year, playing a 14-year-old rebelling against the home’s brutal working conditions, with other parts taken by Max Riemelt, Alexander Held and Uwe Bohm.
Edition Salzgeber will be releasing the film theatrically in Germany in 2014.
At the same time, principal photography...
Brummund is tackling the subject of abuse at Church-run institutions in Freistatt, shooting at the real-life reformatory of the same name in Lower Saxony, which was the scene of such abuse in the past.
The screenplay, co-written with Nicole Armbruster, was awarded the Emden Screenplay Prize last year and the Golden Lola for Best German Screenplay during February’s Berlinale.
The cast is headed by Louis Hofmann, who played Tom Sawyer in Hermine Huntgeburth’s Twain adaptation last year, playing a 14-year-old rebelling against the home’s brutal working conditions, with other parts taken by Max Riemelt, Alexander Held and Uwe Bohm.
Edition Salzgeber will be releasing the film theatrically in Germany in 2014.
At the same time, principal photography...
- 9/28/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
The Berlin International Film Festival is celebrating its opening today, on February 7, 2013 at 7.30 pm. After a few words of greeting from Minister of State for Cultural and Media Affairs Bernd Neumann and Governing Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit, the Festival will be officially opened by Jury President Wong Kar Wai (Hong Kong, China) and Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick. The International Jury – whose other members are Susanne Bier (Denmark), Andreas Dresen (Germany), Ellen Kuras (USA), Shirin Neshat (Iran), Tim Robbins (USA) and Athina Rachel Tsangari (Greece) – will also be introduced during the gala. Anke Engelke will again host the evening. This year’s music will be provided by Ulrich Tukur & Die Rhythmus Boys. 3sat will be broadcasting the opening live. Ziyi Zhang in Yi dai zong shi (The Grandmaster) by Wong Kar Wai Following the gala, Wong Kar Wai’s epic martial-arts drama The Grandmaster will have its international premiere. The director and his leading actors,...
- 2/7/2013
- by hnblog@hollywoodnews.com (Hollywood News Team)
- Hollywoodnews.com
Toronto -- The Berlin award-winning teen dramedy "My Suicide" from U.S. director David Lee Miller is to unspool at the upcoming Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival For Children, organizers said Tuesday.
The Gabriel Sunday-starring film about a high school teen making a video project about his own suicide recently won the best feature film prize in Berlin's youth film section Generation 14plus (Hr, Feb. 13).
Sprockets also booked Neil Diamond's "Reel Injun," a Canadian documentary about inaccurate portrayals of native peoples in Hollywood films.
But elsewhere, there's an international flavor to Sprockets' 13th edition, with 27 features and 41 shorts from 23 countries and in 20 languages on offer.
As in past years, the Toronto event aligned with the Toronto International Film Festival will look to widen young film tastes beyond Pixar and Disney by featuring mostly European films in its features sidebar, including Norwegian director Asleik Engmark's "Twigson," "The Indian" from Dutch director Ineke Houtman,...
The Gabriel Sunday-starring film about a high school teen making a video project about his own suicide recently won the best feature film prize in Berlin's youth film section Generation 14plus (Hr, Feb. 13).
Sprockets also booked Neil Diamond's "Reel Injun," a Canadian documentary about inaccurate portrayals of native peoples in Hollywood films.
But elsewhere, there's an international flavor to Sprockets' 13th edition, with 27 features and 41 shorts from 23 countries and in 20 languages on offer.
As in past years, the Toronto event aligned with the Toronto International Film Festival will look to widen young film tastes beyond Pixar and Disney by featuring mostly European films in its features sidebar, including Norwegian director Asleik Engmark's "Twigson," "The Indian" from Dutch director Ineke Houtman,...
- 3/9/2010
- by By Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Tina Mabry's "Mississippi Damned," an independent American production, won the Gold Hugo as the best film in the 2009 Chicago International Film Festival, and added Gold Plaques for best supporting actress (Jossie Thacker) and best screenplay (Mabry). It tells the harrowing story of three black children growing up in rural Mississippi in circumstances of violence and addiction. The film's trailer and an interview with Mabry are linked at the bottom.
Kylee Russell in "Mississippi Damned"
The win came over a crowed field of competitors from all over the world, many of them with much larger budgets. The other big winner at the Pump Room of the Ambassador East awards ceremony Saturday evening was by veteran master Marco Bellocchio of Italy, who won the Silver Hugo as best director for "Vincere," the story of Mussolini's younger brother. Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Filippo Timi won Silver Hugos as best actress and actor,...
Kylee Russell in "Mississippi Damned"
The win came over a crowed field of competitors from all over the world, many of them with much larger budgets. The other big winner at the Pump Room of the Ambassador East awards ceremony Saturday evening was by veteran master Marco Bellocchio of Italy, who won the Silver Hugo as best director for "Vincere," the story of Mussolini's younger brother. Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Filippo Timi won Silver Hugos as best actress and actor,...
- 10/23/2009
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Cologne, Germany -- Regional pubcaster Wdr cleaned up at this year's Adolf Grimme Awards, the most prestigious independent TV honors in Germany, winning seven trophies for its drama and nonfiction programming.
Wdr's Adolf Grimme-winning telefilm "Outta Control!" with its subject matter of generational conflict and school shootings, seemed particularly prescient following the brutal school killings in Germany this month.
Other drama winners included period miniseries "Teufelsbraten" (Hellion) and family drama "Die zweite Frau" (The Second Wife), both from Wdr, as well as "Wholetrain," a look at Berlin's graffiti sprayer scene produced by Zdf, and "Das wahre Leben" (The True Life) from fellow pubcaster Ard.
Wdr all but swept the documentary category, winning for political docs "Losers and Winners," "Live and Die for Kabul" and "The Big Sell-Off" and also picked up a special Grimme for "Brinkmann's Rage," a look at the anger and eloquence of 1970s poet Rolf Dieter Brinkmann.
Wdr's Adolf Grimme-winning telefilm "Outta Control!" with its subject matter of generational conflict and school shootings, seemed particularly prescient following the brutal school killings in Germany this month.
Other drama winners included period miniseries "Teufelsbraten" (Hellion) and family drama "Die zweite Frau" (The Second Wife), both from Wdr, as well as "Wholetrain," a look at Berlin's graffiti sprayer scene produced by Zdf, and "Das wahre Leben" (The True Life) from fellow pubcaster Ard.
Wdr all but swept the documentary category, winning for political docs "Losers and Winners," "Live and Die for Kabul" and "The Big Sell-Off" and also picked up a special Grimme for "Brinkmann's Rage," a look at the anger and eloquence of 1970s poet Rolf Dieter Brinkmann.
- 3/25/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Berlin -- Richard Loncraine's "My One and Only," a '50s-era comedy starring Renee Zellweger and Kevin Bacon, was squeezed into the competition lineup for this year's Berlin International Film Festival, barely a week before the event kicks off.
Zellweger plays a glamorous single mom on the hunt for a rich man to foot the bill for her and her sons' lifestyle. Produced by Merv Griffith Entertainment and Ray Gun Prods., "My One and Only" will have its world premiere in Berlin. Essential Entertainment is handling international sales.
Berlin also added Lone Scherfig's Sundance favorite "An Education" with Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina and Emma Thompson and Davis Guggenheim's music documentary "It Might Get Loud" for its Berlinale Special Galas, ensuring the films will get the red carpet treatment without any of the pressure of competition.
All three films should give an added boost of star power to...
Zellweger plays a glamorous single mom on the hunt for a rich man to foot the bill for her and her sons' lifestyle. Produced by Merv Griffith Entertainment and Ray Gun Prods., "My One and Only" will have its world premiere in Berlin. Essential Entertainment is handling international sales.
Berlin also added Lone Scherfig's Sundance favorite "An Education" with Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina and Emma Thompson and Davis Guggenheim's music documentary "It Might Get Loud" for its Berlinale Special Galas, ensuring the films will get the red carpet treatment without any of the pressure of competition.
All three films should give an added boost of star power to...
- 1/27/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Berlin -- Fifty years after he won the Berlin International Film Festival's Golden Bear for his directorial debut "Bitter Reunion," French director and Nouvelle Vague pioneer Claude Chabrol will receive the fest's Berlinale Camera lifetime achievement award.
Chabrol will be honored Feb. 8 at a ceremony at Berlin's Cinema Paris, which will be followed by the screening of his latest film, "Bellamy."
Gunter Rohrbach, producer of such classics as Wolfgang Petersen's "Das Boot" and R. W. Fassbinder's "Berlin Alexanderplatz," also will receive a Berlinale Camera this year. The ceremony is set to take place Feb. 9 at the Friedrichstadtpalast ahead of the gala premiere of Hermine Huntgeburth's "Effi Briest," which Rohrbach produced.
Chabrol will be honored Feb. 8 at a ceremony at Berlin's Cinema Paris, which will be followed by the screening of his latest film, "Bellamy."
Gunter Rohrbach, producer of such classics as Wolfgang Petersen's "Das Boot" and R. W. Fassbinder's "Berlin Alexanderplatz," also will receive a Berlinale Camera this year. The ceremony is set to take place Feb. 9 at the Friedrichstadtpalast ahead of the gala premiere of Hermine Huntgeburth's "Effi Briest," which Rohrbach produced.
- 1/27/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Berlin -- Florian Gallenberger's World War II biopic "John Rabe," Paul Schrader's Jeff Goldblum starrer "Adam Resurrected" and Hermine Huntegeburth's adaptation of German classic "Effi Briest" are among the highlights of this year's Berlinale Special program.
Other titles that will get the red carpet gala treatment, minus the pressure of having to compete for the Golden Bear, include "Hilde," Kai Wessel's biography of legendary singer/actess Hildegard Knef; Claude Chabrol's "Bellamy," featuring Gerard Depardieu; and Christiana Yao's "Empire of Silver," with Aaron Kwok, Tie Lin Zhang and Hao Lei.
Four documentaries with get the full Specials treatment: James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo's "Every Little Step," "In Berlin" from Oscar-winning cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and Ciro Cappellari, "Food, Inc." by Robert Kenner and "Terra Madre" from Italian director Ermanno Olmi. The last two also swillcreen as part of Berlin's Culinary Cinema section.
The 59th Berlinale runs Feb.
Other titles that will get the red carpet gala treatment, minus the pressure of having to compete for the Golden Bear, include "Hilde," Kai Wessel's biography of legendary singer/actess Hildegard Knef; Claude Chabrol's "Bellamy," featuring Gerard Depardieu; and Christiana Yao's "Empire of Silver," with Aaron Kwok, Tie Lin Zhang and Hao Lei.
Four documentaries with get the full Specials treatment: James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo's "Every Little Step," "In Berlin" from Oscar-winning cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and Ciro Cappellari, "Food, Inc." by Robert Kenner and "Terra Madre" from Italian director Ermanno Olmi. The last two also swillcreen as part of Berlin's Culinary Cinema section.
The 59th Berlinale runs Feb.
- 1/16/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- While based on a well-known autobiography in Europe, this film version, "White Masai" ("Die Weisse Massai"), is a startling experience for North American viewers unfamiliar with the true story of Corinne Hofmann. The Swiss-born woman fell in love with a Masai warrior while on holiday in Kenya. She eventually married the man only to face seemingly insurmountable cultural obstacles to establishing a reasonably settled home in the bush with the warrior.
Thanks to a collaboration between veteran German director Hermine Huntgeburth and actress Nina Hoss, this woman -- called Carola here -- comes across as no hippy adventuress, but rather a charming though problematic combination of idealist and stubborn pragmatist.
Future festival dates will determine whether audience response warrants a North American acquisition. The film certainly contains enough riveting exotica and intriguing human relationships for art houses. Its major market certainly will be in Western Europe.
The film flows efficiently from early scenes in Mombasa, where Carola and Lemalian (Jacky Ido) first meet. Carola's traveling companion, a boyfriend, is enough of a jerk to motivate her seeming flight from reality.
The scenes of dusty travel and Carola's introduction to the crude village underscore the obvious: This will be no picnic. But the giddy happiness of the couple -- who speak enough English, a second language for them both, to communicate -- looks like it might get them through those rough patches. For awhile, it does.
Carola must adjust to strange foods and customs. A bout of malaria simply comes with the territory. She coolly changes the couple's approach to loving-making so that it becomes an enjoyable experience for them both.
When she uses her money to buy a jeep, Lemalian expresses great joy only to have his feelings hurt over her anger when he crashes into a tree. Even a local Italian priest (Nino Prester), who initially mistakes Carola for a foolish thrill-seeker, is impressed by her ability to adapt.
But Carola cannot overcome some cultural divisions. She is horrified that female circumcision is still practiced in the backwater village. And her husband's unwillingness to help a woman dying in childbirth distresses her.
After the difficult birth of their own child, the relationship takes a downward turn. Carola has opened a grocery store. Not understanding the basics of capitalism, Lemalian extends credit to all family and friends, essentially giving products away.
He grows even uneasy about all the male customers who enter and speak freely with his wife. His jealous rages have less to do with his belief that she entertains boyfriends than an increasingly unwillingness to participate in a marriage of equals. Women, in Lemalian's culture, occupy a place right after goats.
Hoss is extraordinary in her portrayal of a woman of towering strengths yet understandable vulnerabilities. The film also enjoys a huge contribution from Jacky Ido, who provides a window into a way of thinking and living, which a Westerner may find backwards yet is so rooted in generational culture as to be unshakable.
Even at 132 minutes, the film can't address all our questions. Did Carola ever confront the village over the abomination that is female circumcision? How did the store survive after her refusal to issue more credit? How was the child to be raised?
The natural beauty of rural East Africa makes a gorgeous setting for the story, and the many native actors and extras root the movie in a documentary-like reality.
WHITE MASAI
Constantin Films
Credits: Director: Hermine Huntgeburth
Writer: Johannes W. Betz
Base on the book by: Corinne Hofmann
Producer: Gunter Rohrbach
Director of photography: Martin Langer
Production designer: Susann Bieling, Uwe Szielasko
Costumes: Maria Dimler
Music: Niki Reisert
Editor: Eva Schnare
Cast:
Carola: Nina Hoss
Lemalian: Jacky Ido
Stefan: Janek Rieke
Elisabeth: Katja Flint
Priest: Nino Prester
Running time -- 132 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Thanks to a collaboration between veteran German director Hermine Huntgeburth and actress Nina Hoss, this woman -- called Carola here -- comes across as no hippy adventuress, but rather a charming though problematic combination of idealist and stubborn pragmatist.
Future festival dates will determine whether audience response warrants a North American acquisition. The film certainly contains enough riveting exotica and intriguing human relationships for art houses. Its major market certainly will be in Western Europe.
The film flows efficiently from early scenes in Mombasa, where Carola and Lemalian (Jacky Ido) first meet. Carola's traveling companion, a boyfriend, is enough of a jerk to motivate her seeming flight from reality.
The scenes of dusty travel and Carola's introduction to the crude village underscore the obvious: This will be no picnic. But the giddy happiness of the couple -- who speak enough English, a second language for them both, to communicate -- looks like it might get them through those rough patches. For awhile, it does.
Carola must adjust to strange foods and customs. A bout of malaria simply comes with the territory. She coolly changes the couple's approach to loving-making so that it becomes an enjoyable experience for them both.
When she uses her money to buy a jeep, Lemalian expresses great joy only to have his feelings hurt over her anger when he crashes into a tree. Even a local Italian priest (Nino Prester), who initially mistakes Carola for a foolish thrill-seeker, is impressed by her ability to adapt.
But Carola cannot overcome some cultural divisions. She is horrified that female circumcision is still practiced in the backwater village. And her husband's unwillingness to help a woman dying in childbirth distresses her.
After the difficult birth of their own child, the relationship takes a downward turn. Carola has opened a grocery store. Not understanding the basics of capitalism, Lemalian extends credit to all family and friends, essentially giving products away.
He grows even uneasy about all the male customers who enter and speak freely with his wife. His jealous rages have less to do with his belief that she entertains boyfriends than an increasingly unwillingness to participate in a marriage of equals. Women, in Lemalian's culture, occupy a place right after goats.
Hoss is extraordinary in her portrayal of a woman of towering strengths yet understandable vulnerabilities. The film also enjoys a huge contribution from Jacky Ido, who provides a window into a way of thinking and living, which a Westerner may find backwards yet is so rooted in generational culture as to be unshakable.
Even at 132 minutes, the film can't address all our questions. Did Carola ever confront the village over the abomination that is female circumcision? How did the store survive after her refusal to issue more credit? How was the child to be raised?
The natural beauty of rural East Africa makes a gorgeous setting for the story, and the many native actors and extras root the movie in a documentary-like reality.
WHITE MASAI
Constantin Films
Credits: Director: Hermine Huntgeburth
Writer: Johannes W. Betz
Base on the book by: Corinne Hofmann
Producer: Gunter Rohrbach
Director of photography: Martin Langer
Production designer: Susann Bieling, Uwe Szielasko
Costumes: Maria Dimler
Music: Niki Reisert
Editor: Eva Schnare
Cast:
Carola: Nina Hoss
Lemalian: Jacky Ido
Stefan: Janek Rieke
Elisabeth: Katja Flint
Priest: Nino Prester
Running time -- 132 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 9/15/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- German director Hermine Huntgeburth's Die Weisse Massai (The White Masai) will receive its world premiere at next month's Toronto International Film Festival, it was announced Thursday. The high-profile launch of Huntgeburth's latest work came as Toronto unveiled an additional 22 foreign film titles for its 30th edition. Massai, which tells the true story of a young Swiss woman who marries a Masai warrior in Kenya and adopts his culture, stars Nina Hoss, Jacky Ido, Janek Rieke and Katja Flint.
- 8/18/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
COLOGNE -- German federal film subsidies board FFA will back sequels to two of the biggest German-language hits in recent years -- the coming-of-age comedy Girls on Top and the children's fantasy film Bibi Blocksberg. The FFA announced Wednesday it has approved an 800,000 ($940,537) grant for Bibi Blocksberg 2, which Bavaria Film is producing with Franziska Buch (Emil and the Detective) attached to direct. The feature, based on the best-selling children's books from German author Theo Schwartz, follows the adventures of Bibi, the youngest in a long line of witches who fight the forces of evil. The first Bibi installment, from director Hermine Huntgeburth, was one of the top-earning German films of 2002, taking in 9.9 million locally.
- 5/29/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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