04/04/2007

For the sixth year in a row, German Films and the Goethe Institutes in Sydney and Melbourne are coming together to organise the Festival of German Films in four cities, with this year’s goal being to build on last year’s record attendance figures of over 13,000 viewers. Running from April 19-29, the festival will again be showing a broad spectrum of feature films, documentaries and shorts in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

The cities of Melbourne and Perth will open with Chris Kraus’ Four Minutes [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in the presence of lead actress Hannah Herzsprung, who will be promoting the film for its subsequent theatrical release in Australia.

Grave Decisions [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Marcus H. Rosenmueller, on the other hand, will open the events in Sydney and Brisbane. Young director and camerawoman Birgit Moeller will be onhand with her film Valerie, along with a selection of her shorts, and documentary filmmaker-producer Dietmar Post will present the music documentary Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback together with the co-director Lucia Palacios.

Other films in the program are: The Wedding Party [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Dominique Deruddere, Dresden by Roland Suso Richter, Eden by Michael Hofmann, A Friend of Mine (Ein Freund Von Mir) by Sebastian Schipper, Emma's Bliss [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Sven Taddicken, FC Venus – Women with Balls [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Ute Wieland, Offset [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Didi Danquart, Ping Pong [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matthias Luthardt
interview: Sebastian Urzendowsky
film profile] by Matthias Luthardt, Heavyweights [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Marcus H. Rosenmueller, Shoppen by Ralf Westhoff, Summer 04 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Stefan Krohmer, Anger (Wut) by Zueli Aladag, as well as the recent Berlinale titles Madonnas by Maria Speth and Yella [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Christian Petzold.

The family program will feature Hui Buh – The Castle Ghost [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Sebastian Niemann and TKKG – Das Geheimnis Um Die Raetselhafte Mind-Machine by Tomy Wigand.

A further selection of 12 supporting films for the main program was selected in collaboration with AG Kurzfilm. The subject of home and globalisation will also be explored in two discussions.

The interest in German cinema has increased since Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck won the Oscar for The Lives of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Henckel von Donners…
interview: Ulrich Muehe
film profile] (see Focus) and the film's outstanding opening in Australian cinemas.

Lastly, German Films will once again give a German sales company the chance to present itself in Australia, this time The Match Factory.

The Festival of German Films is co-financed to a substantial degree by German businesses in Australia, and its main sponsor is Audi Australia.

Further information can be found on the websites of German Films and The Goethe Institute or by directly contacting Nicole Kaufmann (kaufmann@german-films.de).