25/05/2005

For the 7th time, the German Film Festival (7th-11th June) takes over the Palafox theatre in Madrid for five days. This event, organised by Avalon Productions and supported by German Films and the Goethe Institute in Madrid, aims at promoting a new generation of German filmmakers still unknown in Spain.
This year’s edition focuses on the notion of a fusion between German culture and other European cultures, a theme examplified by the opening movie, Kebab Connection, by Anno Saul, a comedy co-written by Ruth Toma, Jan Berger, and Fatih Akin (whose films Im Juli and Solino were presented in Madrid too). Kebab Connection, starring Denis Moschitto and Nora Tschirmer, comes back on a recurrent motif in the director/script-writer’s work, that of social integration of the immigrants and the gap between the older generations —who stick to their identity— and the younger ones —who feel like mingling in their new country of residence.

Quite a few features are on the programme, such as Kammerfilmmern by Hendrik Hölzemann, Edelweiss Pirates (Edelweisspiraten) by Niko von Glasow, Ghosts (Gespenster) by Christian Petzold, Das Jahr der ersten Küsse by Kai Wessel, Blindgänger by Bernd Sahlin, Höllentour by Pepe Danquart (documentary), Die Andere Frau by Margarethe von Trotta, and Alles auf Zucker, by Dani Levy (10 nominations for the German Film Awards 2005 which will take place on July the 8th).

A special section called ‘Next Generation’ will screen short films by young German directors. Moreover, a retrospective on Turkish-German productions will present four features : Head-on (Gegen die Wand) by Fatih Akin, En Garde by Ayse Polat, Karamuk by Sülbiye Günar, and Kleine Freiheit by Yüksel Yavuz. The Goethe Institute in Madrid will organise a larger event, this Autumn, to present the latest works of all these directors.