26/04/2006

At this year’s 59th Cannes Film Festival (May 17-28), German cinema will be well represented in the sidebar sections. This should compensate for the two international co-productions selected in competition – Lights in the Dusk [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Aki Kaurismäki (co-produced by German company Pandora with Finland, France and Italy) and The Wind That Shakes the Barley [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ken Loach
interview: Rebecca O’Brien
film profile] by Ken Loach (co-produced in Germany by EMC Produktion with the UK, Ireland and Spain).

German films are also a rarity in the Un certain regard sidebar. However, two out of the twenty shorts of opening film Paris, je t'aime, co-produced in Germany by the Fondation Pirol, were made by German filmmakers: Place des fêtes by Oliver Schmitz and True by Tom Tykwer (produced by X-Filme Creative Pool).

Three co-productions will be presented in Un Certain Regard sidebar – Hamaca Paraguaya by Paz Encina (German co-producer: CMW Film Company), along with two films co-financed by Pandora, To Get to Heaven First You Have to Die by Djamshed Usmonov and You Am I by Lithuania’s Kristijonas Vidlziunas (see news).

In the Cinéfondation sidebar, for which actor Daniel Brühl has been chosen as a jury member, German films are better represented, in a line-up that features three student films: Firn by Axel Könzen (dffb), Jaba by Andreas Bolm (HFF Münich/Weltfilm) and Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlocker) by Stefan Mueller (Fachhochschule Wiesbaden).

Sommer 04 an der Schlei, the second feature by Stefan Krohmer, has been selected for the Director’s Fortnight. The film revolves around a middle-aged woman (Martina Gedeck) on holiday who has to compete with a very young girl for the attentions of a handsome foreigner. Critics’ Week will screen Pingpong, Matthias Luthardt’s debut film, about the confused feelings of an orphan towards his aunt. Also selected is Kristall, an experimental short by Christoph Girardet and Matthias Müller.

(Translated from French)