2016 festival brochure

NEW YORK | 7–14 APRIL 2016
FESTIVAL OF GERMAN FILMS
WWW.KINOFESTIVALNYC.COM
Anzeige
Fandor
Cinema Village
22 East 12th Street
New York, NY 10003
schedule (212) 924-3363
www.cinemavillage.com
Admission
Adults $ 12.00
Senior Citizens (60 & over with ID) $ 8.00
Children (under 13) $ 8.00
Restrictions: Children under 5 years of age not admitted.
Pets are not admitted. Late arrivals may not be admitted.
Contact
Oliver Mahrdt
U.S. Representative of German Films
email: mahrdt@german-films.de
www.german-films.de
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................. 4
The Jury.......................................................................................................... 5
A HEAVY HEART........................................................................................ 6
B-MOVIE: LUST & SOUND IN WEST BERLIN 1979-1989....... 8
Talk with the Filmmakers................................................................ 10
HAPPY HOUR........................................................................................... 12
HEDI SCHNEIDER IS STUCK.......................................................... 14
ME AND KAMINSKI.............................................................................. 16
ONE BREATH............................................................................................ 18
SUMMERS DOWNSTAIRS................................................................ 20
THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI................................................. 22
THE CULPABLE...................................................................................... 24
THE FASSBINDER STORY................................................................ 26
Talk with the Filmmakers................................................................ 28
THE SPIDERWEBHOUSE.................................................................. 30
THE WEATHER INSIDE ..................................................................... 32
SHORT EXPORT MADE IN GERMANY....................................... 34
Screening Schedule............................................................................. 36
Imprint......................................................................................................... 38
••• 3
Welcome to KINO! 2016
@ Cinema Village
Once again, KINO! 2016 delivers fresh German films to downtown New York, this year from April 7-14. Now in its third
year as an independent festival, the program was curated by New York film professionals—distributor Ian Stimler,
journalist Karl Rozemeyer and festival consultant Marian Masone—who have selected a wide cross-section of high
quality, remarkable films.
KINO! 2016 will showcase twelve feature premieres plus the US premiere of the Short Export Made in Germany program,
all at the Cinema Village, one of the city’s most beloved art houses. We are also delighted to welcome many guests from
Germany who will attend the screenings and engage with the audience.
KINO! 2016 kicks off with the US premiere of the drama THE WEATHER INSIDE, with German director Isabelle Stever and
lead actress Maria Furtwängler as our special guests at Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema on April 7.
In collaboration with Bertelsmann/UFA, the Centerpiece of KINO! 2016 will be the exclusive presentation of THE CABINET
OF DR. CALIGARI (1920), directed by Robert Wiene. Live music from internationally acclaimed DJ Raphael Marionneau will
accompany the restored classic at the new arthouse complex Metrograph, located on New York’s Lower East Side.
Special events at the Goethe-Institut New York (DECODER – film screening followed by a conversation with producer and
screenwriter Klaus Maeck) and Deutsches Haus at NYU (THE FASSBINDER STORY – a conversation with director and
screenwriter Annekatrin Hendel) round out the line-up.
Finally, we want to encourage our audience to vote online for the KINO! 2016 Audience Award, powered this year by our new
partner Fandor, the premier VOD platform for high-quality independent films.
We thank our cultural partners Deutsches Haus at NYU for their generous contribution and Goethe-Institut New York for
their valuable support. And we are grateful for our ongoing media partnership with The Village Voice.
We are excited to see KINO! 2016 move forward once again into the beating heart of Greenwich Village.
We hope to welcome you there! The Festival Team
4 •••
The Jury
Marian Masone is a film industry veteran with over 25 years of curating
experience. She has been a panelist
and juror for numerous international
organizations and festivals and has
lectured on film in New York, Paris
and Madrid. She is currently on selection committees for the New York
Film Festival and The Museum of Modern Art’s New Directors/New Films.
Karl Rozemeyer is a freelance syndicated columnist and journalist who
has worked as the INTERNATIONAL
EDITOR FOR PREMIERE magazines
in New York and as the Director of
Photography for Hachette Filipacchi
magazines in Prague. He is currently
a columnist for the New York Times
Syndicate, where he contributes to a
weekly feature called “StarBeat.” He
has worked for InStyle magazine, the
digital publication Wide Screen and
CinemaSpy.com. He has written cover stories, features and articles for
several international magazines and
online publications including ELLE
Japan, Total Film in the UK, Fotogramas in Spain and FilmInk in Australia.
He is also the International Content
Editor for Rodale magazines, including Men’s Health and Women’s Health magazines.
Ian Stimler is a native New Yorker and
Bard College graduate. He has been
involved in nearly every aspect of
specialty film distribution for over 15
years. He currently manages all VOD,
digital, and DVD sales for famed US art
house distributor Zeitgeist Films. Zeitgeist releases include such German language US the atrical hits as HANNAH
ARENDT by Margarethe von Trotta,
Academy Award®-nominated SOPHIE
SCHOLL by Marc Rothemund and the
Academy Award®-winning NOWHERE
IN AFRICA by Caroline Link. Ian also
runs the boutique film distribution label KimStim. KimStimʻs mission is to
release underappreciated masterworks of world cinema and has compiled a diverse and critically lauded
catalogue of works by such famous
directors as Corneliu Porumboiu Bela
Tárr and Christophe Honoré. From
2008-2010, Ian played an essential role
in the creation and launch of Adam
Yauch’s film distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories. 2014 KimStim
releases include David Sieveking’s
German Film Award®-nominated (Best
Documentary) FORGET ME NOT and
THE STRANGE LITTLE CAT by Ramon
Zürcher.
••• 5
photo © DEPARTURES Film/deutschfilm
6 •••
A HEAVY HEART
HERBERT
Genre Drama, Category Feature Director Thomas Stuber Screenplay Thomas Stuber, Clemens Meyer
Cinematography Peter Matjasko Cast Peter Kurth, Lina Wendel, Lena Lauzemis, Edin Hasanovic
Production Company DEPARTURES Film, in co-production with deutschfilm Length 111 min
Subtitled Version German with English subtitles Festivals Toronto 2015, Palm Springs 2016, Göteborg 2016
Herbert Stamm is a former professional German boxing champ with his glory days well in the past. Popular in the late 80s
before the fall of the Berlin Wall, he continues to trade off his former fame as “The Pride of Leipzig” who almost made the
Olympic team. Now, he struggles to make ends meet, working on weekends as a bouncer while he ekes out a living as a debt
collector.
Apart from the fleeting camaraderie he finds at the gym, Herbert is alone in life and has little to show for all his years as
a sportsman. He has an on-off girlfriend, a prostitute who stays in his life, despite his brusque behavior toward her. Apart
from the exotic fish in the glowing aquarium of his dingy apartment, he is responsible for the care of no one and nothing. He
looks forward to little, aside from his hope of traveling with a buddy down Route 66 to Santa Monica before his 70th birthday.
Herbert cannot walk away from the boxing ring and finds satisfaction in coaching Eddy, an up-and-coming fighting talent.
Then, following a sparring session, he collapses, paralyzed by shooting pains. Diagnosed with a fatal neurological disease,
he has little time to right wrongs or to realize his remaining dreams but, above all, to reconnect with his estranged daughter,
Sandra. Herbert’s abandonment of his family years before is still raw and she resists allowing him back into her life or introducing him to his young granddaughter. As his disorder begins to slowly ravage him, Herbert must not only confront a broken
identity, aging and death, but also seek out the salvation to be found in second chances.
Thomas Stuber was born in 1981 in Leipzig. He worked as a script supervisor for various film and TV
productions before studying at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. His student feature TEENAGE
ANGST (2008) was selected for the Berlinale and he received a Silver Student Academy Award® for
his short film adaptation of Clemens Meyer‘s OF DOGS AND HORSES (2012). His other films include:
the shorts THE FORM OF WATER (2003), WE‘RE FINE (2006), 3 episodes of the TV series GROSSSTADTREVIER (2013). A HEAVY HEART (2015) is his feature debut.
World Sales
Picture Tree International
andreas@picturetree-international.com
www.picturetree-international.com
East Coast
Premiere
Screening
In Person
08 April · 08:30 pm
09 April · 04:00 pm
Thomas Stuber
••• 7
photo © DEF Media
8 •••
B-MOVIE:
LUST & SOUND IN WEST BERLIN 1979-1989
Genre Music Category Documentary Directors & Screenplay Jörg A. Hoppe, Klaus Maeck, Heiko Lange
Cinematography Till Vielrose Music Mark Reeder, Gudrun Gut, Annette Humpe, Blixa Bargeld, Nena, Nick Cave,
WestBam, Zazie de Paris, Joy Division, Die Toten Hosen, Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Ärzte, Notorische Reflexe
Production Company DEF Media, in co-production with Interzone Pictures, Scenes From Length 92 min
Subtitled Version German, English with English subtitles Festivals Istanbul 2015, Indie Lisboa 2015, Tel Aviv 2015,
Melbourne 2015, Sarajevo 2015, Gent 2015, CPH:DOX 2015, IDFA Amsterdam 2015, Mar del Plata 2015
Awards Heiner Carow Prize of the DEFA Foundation 2015
David Bowie arrived in West Berlin in the late 70s from LA to escape a spiraling drug addiction. By the time he left in the early
80s he had recorded three back-to-back albums now known as his Berlin Trilogy. It was one of his most productive periods.
In his wake, young British Bowie disciples descended on the divided city. Mark Reeder, an aspiring artist-musician with a
penchant for military garb, arrived in 1978 from Manchester at the age of 20. It was a time when possibilities seemed infinite.
Yes, West Berlin was encircled by Communist East Germany and the city was in a state of emergency. But it was cheap to live
and Mark immediately felt a sense of belonging in the creative melting pot of West Berlin‘s post-punk underground music
scene. He managed up-and-coming acts, including Malaria!, the all-girl band he took on tour with Nick Cave‘s The Birthday
Party. He organized Joy Division‘s only Berlin show. He played with his own New Wave group Shark Vegas.
But Reeder was also involved in film and television projects, and actively documented West Berlin’s drug and booze fuelled
trashy party culture for British television. His unique personal footage along with staged reenactments played by Reeder
doppelganger Marius Weber and unearthed Super 8 films from dozens of other filmmakers form the basis of B-MOVIE. Nostalgic yet inspirational, the documentary collages never-before-seen archival fragments and vividly brings back to life local
icons of the time such as Gudrun Gut and Blixa Bargeld as well as many others who fleetingly came and went, from Tilda
Swinton and Keith Haring to David Hasselhoff and New Order.
Klaus Maeck was born in 1954 in Hamburg and is a German film producer and music publisher. In the early
1980s he had the first punk record shop (Rip Off). Always one foot in the film business, he produced and
directed several music videos and two documentaries. In 2003 he founded the production company corazón
international with acclaimed German director Fatih Akin. With Akin he produced his next five films, winning
numerous international awards worldwide.
World Sales
Interzone Pictures
maeck@interzone-pictures.com
www.interzone-pictures.com
Screening
East Coast
Premiere
09 April · 08:30 pm
11 April · 08:30 pm
In Person Klaus Maeck
Event Goethe-Institut New York, see page 10
••• 9
DECODER
Gerd Schneider
The Culpable
Thomas Stuber
A Heavy Heart
Isabelle Stever
The Weather Inside
Franz Müller
Happy Hour
Talk with the
Filmmakers
Klaus Maeck
B-Movie: Lust & Sound in
Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt
West Berlin 1979–1989
The Spiderwebhouse
Annekatrin Hendel
The Fassbinder Story
for more information see
www.kinofestivalnyc.com
photo © GRINGO films
14 •••
HAPPY HOUR
Genre Comedy Category Feature Director & Screenplay Franz Müller Cinematography Bernhard Keller
Cast Simon Licht, Mehdi Nebbou, Alexander Hörbe Production Company GRINGO films, in co-production with Film Boutique
Ripple World Pictures, WDR, ARTE Length 95 min Subtitled Version German with English subtitles
Festivals Montreal 2015, Tallinn Black Nights 2015
When Hans-Christian’s wife inadvertently texts “Happy Hour” to him - a message clearly not intended for him - he learns
she’s been having an illicit affair for years. His marriage on the rocks, he agrees to join friends Nic and Wolfgang on a spontaneous guys-only trip to Ireland to party for a week, just like old times - before marital commitment and kids came into the
picture.
Overweight, mild-mannered and unassuming, Hans-Christian partially blames himself for his wife’s infidelities. His friends
act as a sounding board for their downtrodden, buttoned-up buddy. They try to help him reconnect with his masculinity by
taking him out to sea on a wild fishing trip and chopping wood outdoors, while naked. They hope to bolster his confidence and
loosen him up by getting him drunk and taking him clubbing.
But being holed up in a remote cottage in the countryside of County Kerry with too much booze and too few distractions, the
contrasting personalities of the three men begin to clash, exposing fractures in their friendship. Wolfgang, the alpha male
of the group, is always quick to offer unsolicited (often unwanted) advice and to suggest competitive activities. But when Nic
beds Kat, a local divorcee for whom Wolfgang has romantically fallen, the jovial camaraderie between the men disintegrates.
Accusations fly and deep-seated differences and long-held resentments harbored by the three friends boil to the surface.
Like all buddy movies, HAPPY HOUR is unabashedly about man-to-man friendships and male bonding over manly pursuits.
But it also deals with the crises faced by middle-aged men coping with the pressures of marriage, societal expectations of
masculinity and failed dreams.
Franz Müller was born in 1965. He studied Fine Arts and Cybernetics at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, followed by post-graduate studies at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, where he is also lecturing. His films
include: MADONNA IST LÖWE (short, 1998), FATHER & SON (episode in FREITAGNACHT, 2002), SCIENCE
FICTION (2003), WALLACE LINE (2009), MATELOTS D‘EAU DOUCE (episode in 24 H MARRAKESH, 2010),
ORDINARY SEAMEN 11 (2013), WORST CASE SCENARIO (2014), and HAPPY HOUR (2015).
World Sales
Filmboutique
info@filmboutique.de
www.filmboutique.de
US
Premiere
Screening
In Person
13 April · 09:00 pm
14 April · 06:30 pm
Franz Müller
••• 15
photo © Komplizen Film
14 •••
HEDI SCHNEIDER IS STUCK
HEDI SCHNEIDER STECKT FEST
Genre Tragicomedy Category Feature Director & Screenplay Sonja Heiss Cinematography Nikolai von Graevenitz
Cast Laura Tonke, Hans Löw, Leander Nitsche, Melanie Straub, Simon Schwarz, Margarita Broich, Matthias Bundschuh,
Rosa Enskat, Urs Jucker, Kathleen Morgeneyer Production Company Komplizen Film, in co-production with MER Film,
FilmCamp, ZDF Das kleine Fernsehspiel, ARTE Length 92 min Subtitled Version German with English subtitles
Festivals Berlinale 2015, Seattle 2015, Cambridge 2015, Haifa 2015, Philadelphia 2015, Cork 2015, Sevilla European Film
Festival 2015, Tallinn Black Nights 2015
When Hedi gets stuck in an office elevator, she does not panic. Instead, with goofy yet infectious charm she uses the time to
try to get to know the elevator service operator. We soon see that our eponymous heroine approaches almost every difficult
or uncomfortable situation in life with a similar breezy, albeit slightly kooky, optimism. Her colleagues at the travel agency
where she works are perhaps less appreciative of her quirky off-kilter sense of humor than Uli, her affectionate husband.
Together with their young son, Hedi and Uli dream of traveling to exotic lands. They may even move to Gambia where Uli has
been offered a job.
But then out of the blue things shift dramatically for the family. While playfully frolicking with Uli one evening, something
strange comes over Hedi who becomes suddenly convinced she’s having a stroke. The panic attack is not an isolated incident
and Hedi begins to psychologically unravel, quickly spiraling into a state of clinical depression. Without actively trying to
recognize the source of her depression, doctors put Hedi on a course of antidepressants and emergency tranquilizers. Hedi’s
oddball perkiness becomes clouded over with moody irritability as she becomes hooked on her medication. Before long, she
slips into a state of torpor and dull apathy, much to Uli’s exasperation and their son’s growing confusion. Emotionally and
mentally stuck, yet terrified her stasis will cause her to lose her family, Hedi struggles to break her drug dependence and to
find her way back to normalcy. Deftly balancing the comedic and the dramatic, HEDI SCHNEIDER IS STUCK is a touching yet
painfully funny glimpse into the loneliness of depression.
Sonja Heiss was born in 1976 in Munich and studied at the University of Film & Television Munich. Since
1997, she has been working as a casting director for commercials and since 2002 has been directing commercials herself. Her films include: FAST & CLEAN (short, 1999), KARMA COWBOY (short, 2001), CHRISTINA WITHOUT (short, 2004), HOTEL VERY WELCOME (2007), and HEDI SCHNEIDER IS STUCK (2015).
World Sales
The Match Factory
info@matchfactory.de
www.the-match-factory.com
Screening
East Coast
Premiere
10 April · 03:00 pm
12 April · 04:00 pm
••• 15
photo © X Filme Creative Pool
16 •••
ME AND KAMINSKI
ICH UND KAMINSKI
Genre Tragicomedy Category Feature Director Wolfgang Becker Screenplay Thomas Wendrich based on the novel by Daniel
Kehlmann Cinematography Jürgen Jürges Cast Daniel Brühl, Jesper Christensen, Amira Casar, Geraldine Chaplin, Jördis
Triebel, Stefan Kurt, Peter Kurth, Milan Peschel, Josef Hader Production Company X Filme Creative Pool, in co-production
with ED Productions, WDR, ARTE Length 120 min Subtitled Version German, English with English subtitles
Festivals São Paulo 2015
Based on the acclaimed best-selling novel of the same name by Daniel Kehlmann, ME AND KAMINSKI marks the reunion of
GOOD BYE, LENIN! director Wolfgang Becker and the film’s star, Daniel Brühl. With a tone of tragicomedy, Brühl and Becker
collaborate here to tell the story of Sebastian Zöllner, a less-than-successful arts journalist intent on writing the definitive
biography of Manuel Kaminski, one of the few surviving major painters of Modernism.
A pupil of Matisse and a friend of Picasso, Kaminski’s contribution has arguably been underappreciated by history. Kaminski,
now almost blind, has lived out of the public eye in a secluded alpine village and is now in failing health. Surmising that the
death of the reclusive artist (and a major retrospective of his work) must be imminent, Zöllner is eager to capitalize on the
lucrative fanfare of a timely Kaminski biography.
Having broken up with his girlfriend, Zöllner realizes he is homeless, friendless and his career is on the skids. So with
calculated determination, he wrangles a contract to pen Kaminski’s biography and arranges an interview with the master.
Arriving at the isolated home of the painter after several train connections and an arduous hike, Zöllner is confronted by the
formidable yet alluring figure of Miriam, Kaminski’s controlling daughter who is determined to protect her father’s privacy
and legacy. Devoid of scruples and desperate for success, Zöllner bribes the housekeeper and rifles through the Kaminski
house, discovering that Therese, Kaminski’s early love, is still alive in Belgium. Zöllner, envisioning the dramatic reunion
between Kaminski and Therese as the pinnacle of his biography, absconds with the painter and embarks on a chaotic - yet
ultimately enlightening - road trip across Europe.
Wolfgang Becker was born in 1954 in Hemer and studied German, History and American Studies at the
Free University in Berlin followed by studies at the German Film & Television Academy (dffb). He started
working as a freelance cameraman in 1983 and graduated from the dffb in 1986 with BUTTERFLIES, which
won the Student Academy Award® in 1988 and the Golden Leopard at Locarno. He participated twice in
the Berlinale competition with the features LIFE IS ALL YOU GET (1997), and GOOD BYE, LENIN! (2003).
World Sales
The Matchfactory
info@matchfactory.de
www.the-match-factory.com
North
American
Premiere
Screening
08 April · 08:30 pm
14 April · 08:30 pm
••• 17
photo © Senator Film/Wolfgang Ennenbach
18 •••
ONE BREATH
EIN ATEM
Genre Drama Category Feature Director Christian Zübert Screenplay Christian Zübert, Ipek Zübert
Cinematography Ngo The Chau Cast Jördis Triebel, Chara Mata Giannatou, Benjamin Sadler Production Company Senator
Film Köln, in co-production with View Master Productions, ARRI Media Productions, BVG Filmproduktion, BR
Length 110 min Subtitled Version German, English, Greek with English subtitles Festivals Toronto 2015, Hof 2015, Stockholm 2015, Thessaloniki 2015, Black Nights Tallinn 2015, Gijón 2015, Miami 2016
A fleeting distraction; a few seconds when your vigilance relaxes. That’s all it takes for your world to be shattered and the lives
of others to be destroyed. It’s an experience Elena grapples with when, in an unguarded moment, the child she’s minding
disappears into thin air.
With heart-pounding terror, Elena frantically searches for Lotte, the little girl in her care. She had left her outside a shop
on a busy street in a stroller for only a brief time, returning to find her gone. Difficult as it may be, most people in the same
circumstances would immediately call the police for assistance and inform the child’s mother. Elena does neither. Instead,
she too disappears. But the reasons motivating Elena’s seemingly callous reaction are complex.
Elena is from Greece. She left her home, her family and her boyfriend to find better-paid work in Frankfurt. She begins working for Tessa and Jan, a well-off professional couple with high-pressured careers in need of a full-time nanny. But Elena
struggles with the workload and meeting Tessa’s high demands. She needs the work more than ever after she discovers
she’s pregnant and has no health insurance coverage in Germany. But when Lotte is taken, Elena’s knee-jerk response is
to immediately flee. She secretively returns home. The film’s focus then shifts to Tessa who, having little faith in the local
police to find her child, flies to Athens in search of Elena, believing she holds the key to Lotte’s abduction. Faced with a wall
of suspicion and apathy from Greek officials and law enforcement, Tessa begins to unravel.
Seen through the lens of today’s toxic Greco-German relationship, ONE BREATH offers a richly thought-provoking political
allegory.
Christian Zübert was born in 1973 in Würzburg and studied German Philology before he became a scriptwriter and director. His films as a director include: LAMMBOCK - SHIT HAPPENS (2001), THE TREASURE
OF THE WHITE FALCONS (2005), HARDCOVER (2008), THREE QUARTER MOON (2011), TOUR DE FORCE
(2014). He has also (co-)written the scripts for the films FANDANGO, GIRLS ON TOP, COMPLETE IDIOT, RED
ZORA, and VICKY AND THE TREASURE OF THE GODS, among others.
World Sales
ARRI Media World Sales
mhemminger@arri.de
www.arriworldsales.de
Screening
New York
Premiere
10 April · 08:30 pm
11 April · 06:00 pm
••• 19
photo © Osiris Media
20 •••
SUMMERS DOWNSTAIRS
IM SOMMER WOHNT ER UNTEN
Genre Comedy, Drama Category Feature Director & Screenplay Tom Sommerlatte Cinematography Willi Böhm
Cast Sebastian Fräsdorf, Alice Pehlivanyan, Karin Hanczewski, Godehard Giese, William Peiro Production Company Osiris
Media, in co-production with Osiris Media France Length 98 min Subtitled Version German, French, English with English
subtitles Festivals Berlinale 2015 (Perspektive Deutsches Kino: Opening Film), CPH PIX Copenhagen 2015, Montreal 2015,
Taipei Golden Horse 2015 Awards Special Mention Dialogue en Perspective Berlinale 2015, German Independence Award
Oldenburg 2015
In the heat of high summer, Matthias Landberg floats aimlessly on an inflatable air mattress in the pool. Along with his
girlfriend Camille and her six-year-old son, Etienne, he’s already settled into a languid pace at his parents‘ vacation home in
France. Scruffy and unshaven, Matthias is content to watch the grass grow tall while sipping wine and smoking pot. The idyllic
tranquility is shattered with the unexpected arrival of his older brother. David is the polar opposite of his sibling. Bombastic
and domineering, he is the embodiment of success in the Landberg family. A wealthy banker like his father, David is used to
getting his own way and expecting his younger sibling to acquiesce to his every whim.
So when David turns up at the family vacation home with his wife Lena a week earlier than expected, Matthias, wishing to
avoid conflict, submits to most of his brother’s demands. He decamps from the main bedroom to a smaller one downstairs.
When David insists on peace and quiet and objects to Etienne’s noisy presence, Matthias agrees to send the spirited boy away
to his father.
Camille, however, is not afraid to stand up to David. Sparks fly when she accuses Matthias of being a pushover and not opposing his bullying brother. Then matters turn. Camille and David find common ground, perhaps through mutual respect of
their alpha personalities and physical prowess. When the two go sailing together and then later cycling through the forest,
leaving Matthias and Lena behind at the house, the couples question the strength of their relationships, with both unexpectedly dramatic and painfully funny results.
Tom Sommerlatte was born in 1985 and studied Acting at the Academy of Music and Theater in Leipzig.
Also active as an actor, his films as a director include: GONE TO THE DOGS (short, 2014) and his feature
debut SUMMERS DOWNSTAIRS (2015).
World Sales
ARRI Media World Sales
mhemminger@arri.de
www.arriworldsales.de
Screening
US
Premiere
10 April · 01:00 pm
13 April · 04:00 pm
••• 21
photo © Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation
22 •••
THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI
DAS CABINET DES DR. CALIGARI
Genre Mystery Drama Category Silent Film Director Robert Wiene Screenplay Carl Mayer, Hans Janowitz Cinematography
Willy Hameister Stage Sets Hermann Warm, Walter Reimann, Walter Röhrig Cast Werner Krauss, Conrad Veith, Lil Dagover,
Friedrich Fehér, Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, Rudolf Lettinger World Premiere February 26, 1920, Marmorhaus Berlin
Restoration (2014) Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation Main Sponsor Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA
Digital image restoration L‘ Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna World Premiere (restored version) February 9, 2014 at Philharmonie
Berlin (Berlin International Film Festival 2014) Length 76 min
The movie tells the story of the sinister Dr. Caligari, who puts a prophetic somnambulist named Cesare on show as a fairground attraction in the village of Holstenwall. Cesare prophesies the death of an inquisitive visitor, Alan, who is actually
murdered that night. Francis, the deceased’s best friend and rival for the lovely Jane, suspects Caligari and Cesare and
decides to investigate.
Another murder occurs, and in the end Jane is to be killed by Cesare at the behest of Caligari. This leads to a chase during
which Cesare collapses, Jane is rescued and Dr. Caligari flees into a mental asylum, where his pursuer Francis discovers
that Dr. Caligari is the director of the institution. It turns out that Caligari was inspired by a mystical case from the 18th
century and that he was driven insane during his attempts to impose his will on a sleepwalker. Finally, Caligari is put into a
straitjacket.
However, the movie is not over once this story has been told in flashback, because in a twist the narrator Francis is actually an
inmate in the asylum, along with the others from the story, including Caligari, who as the benevolent director of the institution
now claims to know the key to curing Francis.
The movie ultimately leaves open what is true and who is now insane – Caligari or Francis.
Robert Wiene was born in 1873 in Breslau and passed away in 1938 in Paris. During his lifetime he was
regarded as the creator of Expressionist film. His work includes GENUINE (1920) and THE HANDS OF
ORLAC (1924). In 1934 Robert Wiene emigrated to Paris via Budapest and London. His attempt to remake
CALIGARI as a talkie with Jean Cocteau failed. Only a few of the more than 90 films he was involved in
between 1911 and 1938 were preserved to this day.
World Sales
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation
sales@murnau-stiftung.de
www.murnau-stiftung.de
US Distributor Kino Lorber
Screening
11 April · 08:00 pm / 10:00pm · with live music by DJ Raphaël Marionneau
13 April · 02:00 pm
••• 23
photo © av medien penrose/Alina Bader
24 •••
THE CULPABLE
VERFEHLUNG
Genre Drama Category Feature Director & Screenplay Gerd Schneider Cinematography Pascal Schmit
Cast Sebastian Blomberg, Kai Schumann, Jan Messutat, Sandra Borgmann, Valerie Koch, Rade Radovic, Hartmut Becker
Production Companies av medien penrose, Penrose Film, in co-production with SWR, BR, ARTE Length 96 min
Subtitled Version German with English subtitles Festivals Max Ophüls Festival Saarbrücken 2015, Arras 2015,
Santa Barbara 2016 Awards Audience Choice Award (Santa Barbara 2016)
The congregation is waiting and Jakob Völz and Dominik Bertram, both senior Catholic clerics dressed in their full vestments,
are about to say mass. Two police officers appear and ask Bertram to accompany them to the station. Völz later learns from
his friend, the Deputy Vicar General, that Bertram is accused of the sexual molestation of a teenager in his care. “He’s a
difficult boy,” Bertram counters. “They all are…the neighborhood. Initially they’re enthusiastic…then they frame you!” While
incarcerated, Bertram is attacked by fellow prisoners and badly beaten but is later released on bail.
At first Völz initially believes Bertram is undeserving of blame or censure but, embarking on a private investigation into the
accusations, Völz uncovers unsettling evidence that his friend of 15 years most likely had not only sexually assaulted his
accuser, but also another boy in the parish.
Burdened with this knowledge, Völz is thrown into a crisis of faith. How could God allow such evil within the church to go
unpunished? His unquestioning loyalty is replaced by moral outrage and a creeping belief that his church places concern for
its reputation and its priests above concern for the children of its community. No longer able to lie to himself to maintain the
idyll of the church or to justify his silence, Völz feels compelled to report his findings to his superiors. But confronted with
the extent to which the church hierarchy exercises control and enforces silence through secrecy, intimidation and threat of
exclusion, he soon realizes that choosing to take a stand against senior clerical authority has reverberating consequences.
Gerd Schneider studied Theology in Bonn and Vienna, followed by studies at the Filmakademie
Baden-Württemberg. His films include: the shorts GABRIEL (2000), AT THE END OF DAYS (2001), DOOR BY
DOOR (2002), THE LORDS OF OPERATOR (doc, 2004), THE EDGE OF HOPE (doc, 2005), FLIM-FLAM (short,
2009), THE SERVANT (2012). THE CULPABLE (2015) is his feature debut.
World Sales
Pluto Film Distribution Network
info@plutofilm.de
www.plutofilm.de
East Coast
Premiere
Screening
In Person
12 April · 08:30 pm
13 April · 06:30 pm
Gerd Schneider
••• 25
photo © It Works! Medien
26 •••
THE FASSBINDER STORY
FASSBINDER
Genre Biopic Category Documentary Director Annekatrin Hendel Screenplay Annekatrin Hendel, Juliane Lorenz
Cinematography Martin Farkas Cast Juliane Lorenz, Hanna Schygulla, Wolf Gremm, Thomas Schühly, Margit Carstensen
Production Company IT WORKS! Medien, in co-production with Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation
Length 92 min Subtitled Version German with English subtitles Festivals IDFA Amsterdam 2015, Helsinki 2016
When Rainer Werner Fassbinder was found dead at his home in Munich in 1982, he was only 36 years old. He had directed
44 films in 18 years. Even at the time of his death, he had been working on a new film. Fassbinder, who appeared as an actor
in some of his own films, is arguably one of the most prolific figures in German film history. He is also indisputably one of its
most controversial.
When director Annekatrin Hendel embarked upon a documentary of this provocative yet charismatic giant of European cinema, the magnitude of the material produced by Fassbinder was both a blessing and a curse. To tell the story of such a short
yet impactful life, she merges his oeuvre with his life story by including never-before-seen archive material of a youthful
Fassbinder, carefully edited autobiographical elements infused in his films, unpublished excerpts from his early writings
and new interviews with colleagues, friends and lovers that combine to provide a unique insight into Fassbinder’s drive and
ambition as an artist.
Fassbinder was an autodidact who devoted his life to his art. In Hendel’s documentary, those closest to him speak about his
unflagging work ethic, about his lovers, his marriage and his open homosexuality as well as his obsessive exuberant desire
to create at all costs, regardless of the suffering he inflicted upon himself and the many who collaborated on his movies. As
a result, Fassbinder fostered love-hate relationships with so many in his life. Yet both his champions and his detractors alike
can only but marvel at the astounding productivity of this provocative genius.
Annekatrin Hendel was born in Berlin. After finishing her studies in Design, she began working as a freelance costume and set designer for film and theater. In 1999 she directed her first film, the short CHIQUITA
FOREVER. In 2004 she founded IT WORKS! Medien and the company‘s first production ZUR ZEIT VERSTORBEN won numerous festival prizes. A selection of her other films as a director include: EIN STAR IM OFF
(2000), MIT FANTASIE GEGEN DEN MANGEL (2008), and FLAKE - MEIN LEBEN (2011).
World Sales
IT WORKS! Medien
buero@itworksmedien.de
www.itworksmedien.de
Screening
US
Premiere
08 April · 06:00 pm
09 April · 02:00 pm
In Person Annekatrin Hendel, Martin Farkas
Event Deutsches Haus at NYU, see page 28
••• 27
28 •••
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••• 29
photo © Tellux Film
30 •••
THE SPIDERWEBHOUSE
IM SPINNWEBHAUS
Genre Drama Category Feature Director Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt Screenplay Johanna Stuttmann
Cinematography Jürgen Jürges Cast Sylvie Testud, Ludwig Trepte, Matthias Koerberlin, Ben Litwinschuh, Helena Pieske,
Lutz Simon Eilert Production Company Tellux Film Length 91 min Subtitled Version German with English subtitles
Festivals Zlin 2015, Shanghai 2015, Montreal 2015, Cambridge 2015
Sabine is at the end of her tether. As a single mother she is responsible for three young children and she’s no longer coping.
Her gestures show she loves her children, but her actions have become increasingly erratic and unstable. Distracted and
exhausted, she repeatedly yet unwittingly puts her kids in harm’s way. Her driving has become dangerously unsafe. Her temper flares and she lashes out at them. Knowing she is becoming a danger to herself and her children, she attempts to offload
them on her ex-husband. “You can have them,” she announces to him. “I don’t want them anymore.”
His refusal to look after them leaves Sabine with no choice. She must entrust Johnny, her eldest son, with safeguarding his
siblings, and admit herself into a psychiatric institution for a short period. “I didn’t want this to happen but I cannot breathe
anymore. I’m so scared of myself and the demons,” she tells him. It’s to be their secret.
Responsible and level headed, Johnny ably takes on the role of boss, parent, organizer and protector of Nick and Miechen with
a maturity beyond his years. Yet enjoyment of unbridled freedom soon gives way to filth, deprivation and hunger when Sabine
fails to return as promised. With a shared dysfunctional psychology, the children attempt to keep the secret of their mother’s
absence from concerned adults, including teachers and their own father. But the deception is so thin that a curious outsider’s
suspicions are quickly raised. And having no one in whom he can confide, Johnny becomes trapped in a web of loneliness,
distress and confusion as he struggles to maintain a semblance of normality while protecting his mother’s harrowing secret.
Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt was born in 1980 in Gräfelfing and is a graduate of the directing class of the
University of Televisionand Film in Munich. Her short films DEJEUNER DU MATIN (2003), YILDIZ (2005),
ENDSPIEL (2005), TOHUWABOHU (2007), MARTHA (2008) were screened at numerous international festivals.
THE SPIDERWEBHOUSE (2015) is her feature debut.
World Sales
Tellux Film
info@tellux.tv
www.tellux.tv
US
Premiere
Screening
In Person
10 April · 06:00 pm
12 April · 06:00 pm
Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt
••• 31
photo © Beta Cinema
32 •••
Opening Film
THE WEATHER INSIDE
DAS WETTER IN GESCHLOSSENEN RÄUMEN
Genre Drama Category Feature Director & Screenplay Isabelle Stever Cinematography Philip Kaminiak
Cast Maria Furtwängler, Mehmet Sözer, Anne von Keller, Dorka Gryllus, Barbara Bouchet, Jim Broadbent
Production Company Sutor Kolonko, in co-production with cine plus Filmproduktion Length 96 min
Subtitled Version German, English, Arabic with English subtitles Festivals Zurich 2015, Busan 2015,
2Morrow Moscow 2016 Awards 2Morrow Moscow 2016 (Best Performance, Best Story)
As a public relations expert for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Dorothea Nagel barely ventures from the confines
of her luxury high-rise hotel in an unnamed war-torn Middle Eastern state. Seemingly unperturbed by the sound of distant
gunfire and the occasional nearby missile attack, she plans gala balls and charity events for the local high society from the
opulence of her hotel suite.
Her focus is on helping young displaced women confronted by discrimination and sexual violence by providing them with a
chance to study abroad. But things are not going well. Unable to find a single girl in the refugee camps to meet the scholarship requirements, Dorothea compromises the qualification process to ensure her scholarship program is implemented.
Aloof and calculating, she never allows herself to contemplate the effectiveness of her job or to be outraged by the plight of
the refugees she is supposed to be helping. Instead, to combat the pressure to succeed and the need to remain collected in
a war zone, she turns to drink. Following a night of alcoholic abuse, she awakes with Alec, a handsome young Arab man, in
bed beside her. With no apparent fixed abode or occupation, he is happy to spend all his time with Dorothea, who lavishes him
with gifts and introduces him to her decadent lifestyle.
As war rages outside, Dorothea spirals into an ever-increasingly dangerous vortex fuelled by drink, drugs and sex. With
scathing insight, THE WEATHER INSIDE questions the role of the media and public relations in conflict zones and exposes
how refugee aid sometimes benefits only those who need it the least.
Isabelle Stever was born in 1963 in Munich. After studying Mathematics in Berlin and New York, she
studied Directing at the German Academy of Film & Television (dffb) in Berlin. Her films include: the
award-winning features PORTRAIT OF A MARRIED COUPLE (2002), GISELA (2005), BLESSED EVENTS
(2010), an episode of the omnibus film GERMANY ‘09 (2009), and THE WEATHER INSIDE (2015).
World Sales
Beta Cinema
beta@betacinema.com
www.betacinema.com
US
Premiere
Screening
In Person
07 April · 06:30 pm
09 April · 06:30 pm
Isabelle Stever
Maria Furtwängler
••• 33
SHORT EXPORT
MADE IN GERMANY
ALWAYS TIRED
IMMER MÜDER
Jochen Kuhn / Germany 2015 /
animation / 6 min /
English subtitles
A short reflection on the topic of
being tired.
ARTS + CRAFTS
SPECTACULAR #3
Ian Ritterskamp, Sébastien
Wolf / Germany 2015 /
animation / 5 min / English OV
Arts + Crafts Spectacular #3
examines Valerie Solanas’
attempt to assassinate Andy
Warhol back in 1968 and his
ensuing nightmares. Layers of
reality and fiction become intertwined and climax in a TV
episode in Solanas’ prison cell.
34 •••
DISSONANCE
Till Nowak / Germany 2015 / animation /
15 min / English subtitles
A lonely pianist resides with his gnome-like servant in a sphereshaped city, far above the rest of the universe. One day, harsh
reality descends upon his fantasy world and the confused old
street musician embarks on a crazy odyssey between psychosis
and real life.
DOKUMENT
HOYERSWERDA
Thomas Kaske / Germany 2014 /
experimental / 16 min /
English subtitles
Four contract workers from Mozambique talk about the attacks in
Hoyerswerda in 1991. Accompanied by footage from surveillance
drones, the workers recall what
happened back then. Is history
repeating itself on the borders of
Europe today?
THE BATHTUB
DIE BADEWANNE
IN THE DISTANCE
Florian Grolig / Germany 2015 /
animation / 8 min / no dialogue
It‘s calm and peaceful above the
clouds. But chaos lurks in the
distance and every night it draws
closer.
Tim Ellrich / Germany / Austria 2015 / fiction / 13 min / English subtitles
Three brothers, Georg, Alexander and Niklas, are preparing an original
present for their mother. But the oldest brother doesn’t like the idea of
re-enacting an old bathtub picture from their childhood at all. Little by
little, they bare all and all that remains is three brothers who have
grown apart.
MYSELF UNIVERSE
Andreas Hykade / Germany 2014 /
animation / 2 min / English OV
MYSELF is an attempt to recall the
secret of the universe.
HER SON
IHR SOHN
Katharina Woll / Germany 2015 /
fiction / 23 min / English subtitles
Gregor is a musician and a dreamer. He likes his life - as long as
he doesn’t have to explain himself
to his mother Irène, a successful
gallerist. When Irène’s health radically deteriorates, Gregor is forced
to leave his mother‘s shadow and
seize life with both hands.
WHO WILL PAY THE
BILL? WER TRÄGT
DIE KOSTEN?
Daniel Nocke / Germany 2015 /
animation / 4 min / English
subtitles
Three experts give us their insight
on a highly explosive subject.
However, it is unlikely that expert
number four will be invited back to
the discussion shall be doubted.
US
Premiere
Screening
12 April · 02:00 pm
14 April · 04:00 pm
WOMAN WITHOUT
MANDOLIN
Fabiano Mixo / Germany / Brazil
2015 / experimental / 5 min / no
dialogue
The face of a woman seems to be
fluctuating in space. She is completely focused and we can almost hear
her breathing. Suddenly, she seems
to wake up. She looks deep into our
eyes as she transforms herself, unravelling and reconstructing herself
piece by piece.
F R E E
A D M I S S I O N
••• 35
THU
FRI
S AT
SUN
7 APRIL
8 APRIL
9 APRIL
10 APRIL
06:30 pm
THE WEATHER INSIDE
03:30 pm
ME AND KAMINSKI
02:00 pm
THE FASSBINDER
STORY
01:00 pm
SUMMERS
DOWNSTAIRS
96 min
Guests: Isabelle Stever/
Maria Furtwängler
@ Sunshine Cinema
(Landmark Theatres)
120 min
06:00 pm
THE FASSBINDER
STORY
92 min
Guests: Annekatrin
Hendel/Martin Farkas
08:30 pm
A HEAVY HEART
111 min
Guest: Thomas Stuber
92 min
Guests: Annekatrin
Hendel/Martin Farkas
04:30 pm
PANEL DEUTSCHES
HAUS AT NYU THE
FASSBINDER STORY: A
CONVERSATION WITH
ANNEKATRIN HENDEL
04:00 pm
A HEAVY HEART
111 min
Guest: Thomas Stuber
06:30 pm
THE WEATHER INSIDE
96 min
Guest: Isabelle Stever
08:30 pm
B-MOVIE
92 min
Guest: Klaus Maeck
36 •••
98 min
03:00 pm
HEDI SCHNEIDER
IS STUCK
92 min
06:00 pm
THE
SPIDERWEBHOUSE
91 min
Guest:
Maria Eibl-Eibesfeld
08:30 pm
ONE BREATH
110 min
MON
TUE
WED
THU
11 APRIL
12 APRIL
13 APRIL
14 APRIL
06:00 pm
ONE BREATH
02:00 pm
SHORT EXPORT
MADE IN GERMANY
02:00 pm
THE CABINET OF
DR. CALIGARI
94 min
76 min
04:00 pm
SHORT EXPORT
MADE IN GERMANY
04:00 pm
HEDI SCHNEIDER
IS STUCK
04:00 pm
SUMMERS
DOWNSTAIRS
06:30 pm
HAPPY HOUR
110 min
08:30 pm
B-MOVIE
92 min
Guest: Klaus Maeck
08:00 pm
THE CABINET OF
DR. CALIGARI + DJ
@ Metrograph
10:00 pm
THE CABINET OF
DR. CALIGARI + DJ
@ Metrograph
94 min
92 min
98 min
95 min
Guest: Franz Müller
06:00 pm
THE
SPIDERWEBHOUSE
06:30 pm
THE CULPABLE
08:30 pm
ME AND KAMINSKI
91 min
Guest:
Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt
06:30 pm
SCREENING
GOETHE-INSTITUT
DECODER (1984)
96 min
Guest: Gerd Schneider
120 min
09:00 pm
HAPPY HOUR
95 min
Guest: Franz Müller
87 min
Guest: Klaus Maeck
08:30 pm
THE CULPABLE
96 min
Guest: Gerd Schneider
for more information see
www.kinofestivalnyc.com
••• 37
organized by
in collaboration with
with the generous support of
FESTIVAL TEAM
Nicole Kaufmann (German Films, project manager Munich)
Oliver Mahrdt (German Films, project manager New York)
Thessa Mooij (Silversalt PR)
Kristin McCracken (McCrackhouse Social Media)
Credits not contractual for any of the films mentioned in this publication. Screening schedule subject to change.
Published by German Films Service + Marketing GmbH
Herzog-Wilhelm-Strasse 16 · 80331 Munich/Germany
phone +49-89-59 97 87 0 · fax +49-89-59 97 87 30
email info@german-films.de · www.german-films.de
Editor Nicole Kaufmann Contributors Karl Rozemeyer, Thessa Mooij
Design Kunst & Kollegen GmbH Printing Office The Reading Eagle Print
38 •••