10/10/2008

German audiences are spoiled for choice among the 12 new releases – including eight European films – which hit screens yesterday.

Domestic films are well represented on the line-up, with one title in particular that has been the subject of an original pre-launch initiative aimed at awakening the interest of schoolchildren (see news): fantasy film Krabat [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Marco Kreuzpaintner (Trade [+see also:
trailer
film profile]).

Adapted from Otfried Preußler’s cult novel (2.1m copies sold worldwide), the film tells the story of a young apprentice (David Kross starring alongside Christian Redl and Daniel Brühl) in a mill where he also learns about black magic. Krabat is produced by Claussen + Wöbke + Putz Filmproduktion GmbH and distributed by Fox.

Zorro have launched Autistic Disco by Hans Steinbichler (Hierankl, Winter Journey [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), whose latest film, My Mother, My Bride and I, screened at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this autumn. Produced by Hamburg-based Tatami Film and set amidst green alpine landscapes, Autistic Disco explores the tense relations between a group of supervised youngsters and their educational assistants.

B.Film have released Brigitte Maria Bertele’s debut feature, Night Before Eyes. Produced by noirfilm, the title looks at the influence that a soldier returning from Afghanistan traumatised and violent has on his young half-brother.

Meanwhile, Warner have released the comedy U-900 by Sven Unterwaldt Jr. (director of the popular 7 Dwarves: The Wood is Not Enough. In this film produced by Wiedemann & Berg (The Lives of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Henckel von Donners…
interview: Ulrich Muehe
film profile]), the comedy master traces the journey of three joyful lads who flee the Nazi regime in the last submarine in the German navy.

Among the non-domestic European releases, two in particular will appeal to film enthusiasts: the Dardenne brothers’ Italian/French/Belgian co-production Lorna’s Silence [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Arta Dobroshi
interview: Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne
interview: Olivier Bronckart
film profile], which picked up Best Screenplay at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (distributed by Piffl); and Italian director Silvio Soldini’s latest title, Days and Clouds [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which won two of its seven nominations at the David di Donatello Awards (distributed by Movienet).

B.Film have also launched two documentaries: Dutch director Heddy Honigmann’s Emoticons, about young people and the Internet; and Dieter Gränicher’s Swiss title, Recovery, which looks at eight people of all ages who have managed to overcome different psychological disorders.

(Translated from French)