A thief, a call girl, another life perhaps

by Bénédicte Prot

21/06/2012 - German distributors seem to be holding back at the moment, but Déjà Vu today tried its luck with what is set to be an unsettling drama, Die Räuberin (lit. “The thief”), subtitled "a silent scandal". It’s screenwriter Markus Busch’s first feature as a director (Busch has often worked Dominik Graf), and is produced by Hamburg-based production company Element e Filmproduktion. The film’s screenplay is set in a little village in north Germany. It tells of the unusual, unconventional ties of affection and dependence that develop between Tania, an actress in her forties tormented by something that she did in the past (Birge Schade), and Thore, a teenager who is different (Daniel Michel).

Farbfilm has released a film co-produced by Germany, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia that has won awards and praise at many international festivals including Toronto, Rotterdam, and Valencia: Slovenian Girl [trailer] by Damjan Kozole. In the film, Nina Ivanisin brilliantly portrays a student in Ljubljana who coldly prostitutes herself by ambition, until one day an accidental death awakens her conscience.

Eclipse has released Vielleicht in einem anderen Leben (lit. "Perhaps in another life") by Elisabeth Scharang, a film about the unexpected events that, in 1945, stopped a group of Hungarian Jews’ march to death, co-produced by Film-Line Productions (Germany), Epo-Film (Austria), and Mythberg Films (Hungary).

The other two new films out this week come from across the Channel. Senator has released W.E. [trailer], Madonna’s second feature as a director (see the interview), a version of the scandalous love affair between American divorcee Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII with a New York twist, while Film Kino Text has released the documentary Wagner & Me by Patrick McGrady, in which the comedian Stephen Fry speaks of the great composer.

(Translated from French)