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Berlin International Film Festival · 2009

Berlin International Film Festival 2009

German Cinema

A section exploring the very best of new German cinema. Future classics mixing with interesting curios throughout.

Programme

18 films · 4 reviews

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10 Seconds (10 Sekunden)

After an airplane disaster, flight controller Markus is tormented by feelings of guilt: he feels responsible for the death of 83 people.10 Seconds – independent of the real occurrence - deals with the consequences of the tragedy.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Nicolai Rohde; Writer: Sönke Lars Neuwöhner, Sven Poser, Nicolai Rohde; Stars: Marie Bäumer, Sebastian Blomberg, Filip Peeters, Hannah Herzsprung, Anna Loos, Wolfram Koch, Harald Schrott, Irm Hermann, Rolf Kanies)

Age And Beauty (Alter und Schönheit)

Writer/director Michael Klier brings the top German actors of the “adult” generation together to reflect, with subtle humour, on love, work and the meaning of life. It seems here that men today only grow up when they reach their fifties …

(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Michael Klier; Writer: Michael Klier; Stars: Henry Hübchen, Burghart Klaußner, Armin Rohde, Sibylle Canonica, Peter Lohmeyer)

The Architect (Der Architekt)

Georg Winter visits the distant past when he goes to his mother's funeral and uncovers personal demons.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Ina Weisse; Stars: Matthias Schweighöfer, Josef Bierbichler, Sandra Hüller)

The Baader Meinhof Complex (Der Baader Meinhof Komplex)

Review preview for The Baader Meinhof Complex

Further evidence of German filmmakers’ willingness to confront the darker episodes of their recent past – and spark a controversy in the process.

Jeff Robson · 3.5 out of 5
As protests against the West German government of the late 1960s become increasingly violent, a group of young left-wingers decide to take direct action.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Uli Edel; Writer: Stefan Aust, Bernd Eichinger; Stars: Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu, Johanna Wokalek, Bruno Ganz, Simon Licht, Jan Josef Liefers, Alexandra Maria Lara, Heino Ferch, Nadja Uhl, Hannah Herzsprung) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

Berlin Calling

Drama about the rise and fall of a DJ.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Hannes Stöhr; Writer: Hannes Stöhr; Stars: Paul Kalkbrenner, Rita Lengyel, Corinna Harfouch, Araba Walton, Peter Schneider, Rolf Peter Kahl, Henriette Müller, Udo Kroschwald, Megan Gay, Max Mauff)

Clara (Geliebte Clara)

Drama about the famous pianist

(Country: Germany, France, Hungary; Year: 2008; Director: Helma Sanders-Brahms; Writer: Nicole-Lise Bernheim, Helma Sanders-Brahms, Colo Tavernier; Stars: Martina Gedeck, Pascal Greggory, Malik Zidi, Aline Annessy, Brigitte Annessy, Marine Annessy, Jacques Breuer, Sascha Caparros, Clara Eichinger, Béla Fesztbaum)

Cloud 9 (Wolke Neun, Cloud Nine)

A brave and truthful portrayal of love in later life.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Andreas Dresen; Writer: Andreas Dresen, Jörg Hauschild, Laila Stieler, Conny Ziesche; Stars: Ursula Werner, Horst Rehberg, Horst Westphal, Steffi Kühnert)

Dr. Alemán

Medical student receives a rough reception in Latin American hospital.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Tom Schreiber; Writer: Oliver Keidel, Tom Schreiber; Stars: August Diehl, Marleyda Soto, Andrés Parra, Hernán Méndez, Victor Villegas, David Steven Bravo)

Jerichow

Review preview for Jerichow

There is no question that Petzold is his own film-maker.

Keith Hennessey Brown · 4 out of 5
Three misbegotten strangers stumble into a fateful encounter.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Christian Petzold; Writer: Christian Petzold; Stars: Benno Fürmann, Nina Hoss, Hilmi Sözer, André Hennicke, Claudia Geisler, Marie Gruber, Knut Berger)

Full review

Krabat

Trials and tribulations of a young orphan in the midst of the Thirty Years War.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Marco Kreuzpaintner; Writer: Michael Gutmann, Marco Kreuzpaintner, Otfried Preußler; Stars: David Kross, Daniel Brühl, Christian Redl, Robert Stadlober, Paula Kalenberg, Anna Thalbach, Hanno Koffler, Charly Hübner, Moritz Grove, Tom Wlaschiha)

Lulu And Jimi (Lulu und Jimi)

Review preview for Lulu And Jimi

Lulu And Jimi certainly shares with Lynch a level of surrealism and an ability to switch mood dramatically from the candy floss highs of love to much darker territory.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Lovers go on the run in late Fifties Germany.

(Country: Germany, France; Year: 2009; Director: Oskar Roehler; Writer: Oskar Roehler; Stars: Jennifer Decker, Ray Fearon, Katrin Saß, Rolf Zacher, Udo Kier) , Official site

Full review See: Sundance Diary: Day Two

North Face (Nordwand)

Tragedy of four ambitious mountain climbers trying to conquer the Eiger North Face.

(Country: Germany, Austria, Switzerland; Year: 2008; Director: Philipp Stölzl; Writer: Rupert Henning, Johannes Naber, Benedikt Roeskau, Christoph Silber, Philipp Stölzl; Stars: Benno Fürmann, Florian Lukas, Johanna Wokalek, Georg Friedrich, Simon Schwarz, Ulrich Tukur, Erwin Steinhauer, Branko Samarovski, Petra Morzé, Hanspeter Müller)

Palermo Shooting

Workaholic photographer begins having terrible daydreams in the middle of Palermo.

(Country: Germany, France, Italy; Year: 2008; Director: Wim Wenders; Writer: Wim Wenders, Norman Ohler, Bernd Lange; Stars: Campino, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Dennis Hopper, Inga Busch, Gerhard Gutberlet, Harry Blain, Sebastian Blomberg, Jana Pallaske, Olivia Asiedu-Poku, Melika Foroutan)

Perlmutterfarbe

A white lie leads to devious consequences for youngster Alexander.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2009; Director: Marcus H. Rosenmüller; Writer: Anna Maria Jokl, Christian Lerch, Marcus H. Rosenmüller; Stars: Markus Krojer, Dominik Nowak, Zoë Mannhardt, Benedikt Hösl, Thomas Wittmann, Samuel Cakan, Ferdinand Hofer, Franziska Scheuber, Paul Beck, Brigitte Hobmeier)

The Stranger in Me (Das Fremde in mir)

Drama about building the mother-child relationship.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Emily Atef; Writer: Emily Atef, Esther Bernstorff; Stars: Susanne Wolff, Johann von Bülow, Maren Kroymann, Hans Diehl, Judith Engel, Herbert Fritsch, Klaus Pohl, Dörte Lyssewski, Brigitte Zeh, Tilla Kratochwil)

The Wave (Die Welle)

Review preview for The Wave

The message is clear and the message is strong: How To Build A Fascist Movement works.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
A high school teacher demonstrates with his class the true meaning of autocracy.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Dennis Gansel; Writer: Dennis Gansel, Peter Thorwarth, based on the novel by Todd Strasser; Stars: Juergen Vogel, Frederick Lau, Max Riemelt, Jennifer Ulrich, Christiane Paul, Elyas M'Barek, Christina do Rego, Jacob Matschenz, Amelie Kiefer) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

A Woman In Berlin (Anonyma - Eine Frau in Berlin)

Based on the diary by an authoress who remained anonymous until her death, the only woman to write about the still taboo topic of the rape of German women by soldiers of the Red Army at the end of World War II.

(Country: Germany, Poland; Year: 2008; Director: Max Färberböck; Writer: Max Färberböck, Catharina Schuchmann; Stars: Nina Hoss, Yevgeni Sidikhin, Irm Hermann, Rüdiger Vogler, Ulrike Krumbiegel, Rolf Kanies, Jördis Triebel, Roman Gribkov, Juliane Köhler, Samvel Muzhikyan)

A Year Ago in Winter (Im Winter ein Jahr)

A family attempts to rebuild their shattered lives after a tragedy.

(Country: Germany, USA; Year: 2008; Director: Caroline Link; Stars: Karoline Herfurth, Josef Bierbichler, Corinna Harfouch, Hanns Zischler)