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13th German Film Festival kicks off

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Cineuropa

Paris movie theatre l'Arlequin is hosting the 13th German Film Festival (October 15-21), which kicks off this evening. The annual event is organised by German Films, who offer French audiences the chance to discover the best recent German productions.

The festival will open with Jerichow, by renowned filmmaker Christian Petzold (Yella [trailer]).

The title explores the encounter between a young man (Benno Fürmann) returning to his small native town, an entrepreneur and his beautiful wife (played by Nina Hoss, who won Best Actress at Berlin for her performance in Yella). Produced by Schramm Film Koerner + Weber, the film is being sold by The Match Factory.

In the main section – Cinéma d'aujourd'hui – ten other features will be presented at avant-première screenings attended by the directors. Titles include Lola Randl’s In Between Days (presented at Berlin and Karlovy Vary - sales: Media Luna Entertainment); André Erkau’s Come In and Burn Out (Max Ophüls Award 2008), which stars former Shooting Star Maximilian Brückner and looks at the life of three call centre workers; Neele Leana Vollmar’s Friedliche Zeiten (sales: The Match Factory); Ulla Wagner’s The Invention of the Curried Sausage; and Nicolette Krebitz’s The Heart is a Dark Forest, which also stars Hoss, alongside Devid Striesow and Monica Bleibtreu (presented at Rotterdam, Göteborg and Berlin - sales: The Match Factory).

The line-up also includes Niels Laupert’s Seven Days Sunday, about the dangerous bet made by two young hotheads (presented at Munich, Sofia and Rotterdam - sales: ARRI Media); Berlin Calling by Hannes Stöhr (presented at Locarno - sales: Beta Cinema), who is taking part in the Paris festival for the second time; Niko von Glasow’s documentary Nobody's Perfect; and Sebastian Heidinger’s documentary Drifter, which won an award at Berlin.

Finally, the festival will close with A Year Ago in Winter by Caroline Link, who won an Oscar in 2003 for Nowhere in Africa [trailer] (sales: Celluloid Dreams). The audience will choose its favourite among the aforementioned features.

The "Roulez Jeunesse" section will screen five films, including the subtle, multiple award-winning title And Along Come Tourists [trailer] by Robert Thalheim (presented at Cannes in 2007); Nana Neul’s Mein Freund aus Faro; and German co-production (through Fatih Akin’s company) Chiko by Özgür Yildirim (sales: The Match Factory).

The festival programme also includes two selections of shorts, a tribute to DoP Michael Ballhaus (with the screening of two Fassbinder films and a Scorcese title) and a "Night of German Film" with the presentation of Hans Jürgen Syberberg’s lengthy title: Hitler: A Film from Germany (1977).

Bénédicte Prot cineuropa.org