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FESTIVALS Germany

German films at Toronto

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German cinema will be well represented at the 35th Toronto Film Festival (September 9-19), with the latest works by internationally-renowned local directors and a large number of co-productions.

The Special Presentations section will show Poll, the new film by Chris Kraus (Four Minutes [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
). In this German/Austrian/Estonian co-production, set on the eve of the First World War, the young daughter of a disturbing German scholar conceals and cares for an Estonian anarchist.

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Screening in the same section are Oscar-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanovic’s co-production Circus Columbia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Danis Tanovic
film profile
]
; Benoît Jacquot’s Deep in the Woods [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, co-produced with France; and Larysa Kondracki’s Canadian co-production The Whistleblower.

In the famous Contemporary World Cinema section, Tom Tykwer will present his latest project, Three [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, straight from the Venice competition. The film, starring Sophie Rois, Sebastian Schipper and Devid Striesow, centres on a couple of the director’s generation who feel a little disconnected and embark, separately, on a secret love affair with a third person.

Blessed Events by Isabelle Stever (director of Portrait of a Married Couple and Gisela) has been selected in the same section, alongside a long list of German co-productions. These include Belgian director Koen Mortier’s 22nd of May; Black Ocean [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Marion Hänsel (also Belgian co-producer of Tanovic’s film); Norwegian director Bent Hamer’s Home For Christmas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bent Hamer
film profile
]
; The Human Resources Manager by Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis (The Syrian Bride, Lemon Tree [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
); Berlin competition title The Hunter [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by Iranian director Rafi Pitts (see review); Sergei Loznitsa’s Cannes Palme d’Or contender My Joy [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
; The Solitude of Prime Numbers [+see also:
trailer
interview: Luca Marinelli
film profile
]
by Italy’s Saverio Costanzo; Tender Son – The Frankenstein Project [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó; and Womb [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
by his equally talented compatriot Benedek Fliegauf.

There are also a few German co-productions in the Visions line-up: Dutch director Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement, Andrei Ujica’s The Autobiography of Nicolas Ceaucescu [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and Michelangelo Frammartino’s The Four Times [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michelangelo Frammartino
interview: Savina Neirotti
film profile
]
. The latter two both won great acclaim on the Croisette this year.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Palme d’Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
has, quite rightly, been selected in the Masters section.

Several other co-productions have been selected, and Germany is also represented by some experimental works.

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(Translated from French)

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