| Current German Cinema
More New Films from Germany at the Egyptian Theatre!
Co-presented by the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles
With the Support of German Films, Berlin&Beyond/San Francisco, and ELMA (European Languages and Movies in America)
We are proud to present the fourth German Currents Showcase, featuring some
of the best German films of the past year. German film has had a rich and varied history.
The Weimar era boasted a post-Caligari, pre-Hitler gallery of master criminals, fantastic
worlds and pre-noir femme fatales. In the early 70s, a phenomenon known as "New
German Cinema" erupted onto our screens, driven by the allegories of Werner Herzog,
the road movies of Wim Wenders and the Brechtian melodramas and satiric comedies of Rainer
Werner Fassbinder. After the Berlin Wall collapsed in 1990, German producers began
generating "hits" that betrayed a lighter touch in their direction and
performances. If the films of the New German Cinema were marked by introversion and
alienation, more recent German films are extroverted and kinetic, featuring charismatic
directorial voices and actors in action.
This year’s selections feature a wide array of narrative films and documentaries,
from sweeping epics to intimate comedies. These films deftly cover such powerful emotional
topics as immigration (WHEN WE LEAVE), aging (AUTUMN GOLD) and abuse (THE
SILENCE), but also keep a positive tone, as in delightfully acerbic comedy VINCENT
WANTS TO SEA, a German box office hit with young adults. We are also proud to present
the first German 3D-animated film, ANIMALS UNITED, inspired by Erich
Kaestner’s well-known book; the fascinating documentary ROCK HUDSON: DARK AND
HANDSOME STRANGER, about the Hollywood icon’s seemingly disparate double life;
and the epic historical drama POPE JOAN, based on the book by Donna Cross.
Additional events in this series take place at other venues, so check the Goethe-Institut
Los Angeles website for details. All films in German with English
subtitles. Buy Tickets
Friday, October 22 – 7:30 PM
L.A. Premiere! POPE
JOAN (DIE PAEPSTIN), 2009, Summit Entertainment Group, 148 min. It is the 9th
Century and Johanna Von Ingelheim, a German-born woman of English roots, has an ambitious
plan: to rise through the ranks of the Vatican and become pope. In order to achieve this,
however, Johanna must skillfully disguise herself as a man. Nominated for three German
Film Awards including Best Costumes, Production Design and Supporting Actress, director
Soenke Wortmann's gender-bending historical epic showcases an array of strong performances
and gorgeously lavish period set-pieces. In German with English subtitles. Discussion following with novelist Donna Woolfolk Cross. Trailer | Buy Tickets
Saturday, October 23 – 5:00 PM
L.A. Premiere! AUTUMN GOLD (HERBST GOLD), 2010, Neue Visionen Filmverleih, 94
min. Five athletes compete at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Finland. The
catch? All of these athletes are over the age of 80. Jan Tenhaven's moving documentary
offers a glimpse of triumph and resilience at the end of life, and of the biggest
challenge that all athletes must one day face - maturity. In German with English
subtitles. Discussion following with director Jan Tenhaven. Trailer
Saturday, October 23 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature: L.A. Premiere! THE
ROBBER (DER RAEUBER), 2010, Films Distribution, 90 min. On the
day of his release from jail for a previous bank heist, Johannes Rettenberger redefines
"breaking parole:" He exits the prison, walks down the street, and holds up yet
another bank. At once a tense thriller and fascinating character study based on a bizarre
true story, director Benjamin Heisemberg' s crime drama was nominated for the prestigious
Golden Bear award at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival. In German with English
subtitles. Trailer
L.A. Premiere! THE SILENCE (DAS LETZTE SCHWEIGEN), 2010, Bavaria Film
International, 118 min. When a child's bicycle is discovered in a wheat field - in the
exact location of a heinous crime committed 23 years earlier - and when local girl Sinikka
mysteriously goes missing, a town is thrown into a haze of anxious uncertainty. At once a
tense police procedural and a subtle yet devastating portrayal of a family's struggle to
come to terms with the unthinkable, director Baran bo Odar's assured drama examines the
ripple effect of violence on a community. In German with English subtitles. Discussion following with directors Benjamin Heisemberg and Baran bo
Odar. Trailer | Buy Tickets
Sunday, October 24 – 2:00 PM
Germany’s Official Oscar Submission:
WHEN WE LEAVE (DIE FREMDE), 2010,
Majestic-Filmverleih, 119 min. Dir. Feo Aladag. Umay (a terrific Sibel Kekilli) is a young
woman of Turkish descent, working hard to maintain a life of her own in Germany. However,
Umay and her family don’t see eye-to-eye on her self-governed lifestyle, and what
starts as a family feud quickly escalates into something much more grave. Winner of the
Label Europa Cinemas award at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival. In German with
English subtitles. This will will also play October 20 at 7:30 PM at
the Egyptian Theatre.
Trailer | Buy Tickets
Sunday, October 24 – 5:00 PM
L.A. Premiere! THE WOMAN WITH THE 5 ELEPHANTS (DIE FRAU MIT DEN 5 ELEFANTEN),
2010, Cinema Guild, 93 min. Dir. Vadim Jendreyko. Swetlana Geier is considered the
greatest translator of Russian literature into German. She has just concluded her
life’s work for Zurich’s Ammann publishing house: completing new translations of
Dostoyevsky’s five great novels, known as "the five elephants." This
award-winning film interweaves the story of Geier’s life with her literary work and
traces the secret of this inexhaustible, hard-working woman. In German with English
subtitles. Discussion following with director Vadim Jendreyko.
Trailer
Sunday, October 24 – 7:30 PM
L.A. Premiere! VINCENT WANTS TO SEA (VINCENT WILL MEER), 2010,
Constantin Film, 96 min. Dir. Ralf Huettner. In this acerbically funny and brilliantly
uncomfortable comedy, Vincent (Florian David Fitz, who also wrote the script) makes the
great escape of struggling 20-somethings - he breaks out of rehab. Vincent, who has
Tourette’s syndrome, is joined in his escape by anorexic Marie and
obsessive-compulsive Alex. The unlikely band of outsiders head south (destination: Italy),
where Vincent hopes to fulfill his mother's last wish. In German with English subtitles. Trailer | Buy Tickets |
