German Currents: New Films
From Germany Focus on BavariaPlease check back closer to the date of the series as there may be some
changes to the schedule or see www.fandango.com
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This series is an Aero Theatre Exclusive!

Presented in cooperation with Goethe
Institut-Los Angeles, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern and the Friends of Hofer Filmtage.
Sponsored by BMW, ELMA, AMI.
German film has had a rich and varied history. First to arrive were the lavish
spectacles of the Weimar era boasting a post-Caligari, pre-Hitler gallery of master
criminals, fantastic worlds and pre-noir femmes fatales and such cinematic icons as Lang,
Murnau, and Dietrich. In the early seventies, a phenomenon known as the "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. The more stylistically conventional but dramatically hard-hitting films of
Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta followed close behind. Despite their diverse
styles, the new German filmmakers proclaimed that their subject was contemporary Germany
and its social problems: racism, terrorism, Nazism, and even history itself. Audiences
filled the arthouses. The tragic death of Fassbinder by drug overdose in June 1982
symbolized the end of an era. It would be another decade before German cinema stirred
again. After the Berlin Wall collapsed in 1990, German producers began generating
individual "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, the recent German films are extroverted and kinetic, featuring charismatic
young actors in action. Think of Daniel Brühl frantically constructing a vanished East
Berlin for his bedridden mother in GOODBYE LENIN, or Franka Potente racing through a
reunited Berlin to save sexy Moritz Bleibtreu in Tom Tykwers RUN, LOLA, RUN. More
recently American audiences have applauded the magnificent Julia Jentsch facing down the
Nazis in SOPHIE SCHOLL, and handsome theater director Sebastian Koch playing cat-and-mouse
with voyeuristic stasi agent Ulrich Mühe in THE LIVES OF OTHERS.
Hopefully series like German Currents will awaken audience interest in the broader
range of German filmmaking and thus encourage distributors and cultural institutions to
make these films available. Following
up on last year success, join us for another exploration of German Cinema today with 10
Los Angeles Premieres including new films by one of Germany`s foremost filmmakers, Doris
Dörrie (Cherry Blossoms) and the new film from 2001 Best Foreign-Language Film
Academy Award winner Caroline Link (A year in winter), two huge, succesful
comedies, one the animated spoof Lissi and the wild emperor and Til
Schweigers life action Rabbit without Ears, From Un Certain Regard/Cannes
And Along come tourists and from Sundance The Wave, plus many more films
including a family matinee.
We are thrilled to welcome at the American
Cinematheques Aero Theatre directors Doris Dörrie, Uli Edel, Vivian Naefe, Marcus
H. Rosenmueler, Raplh Westhoff and Hans Steinbichler and producer Uli Aselmann and
Producer Ushi Reich and actor Rosalie Thomas.
.
Wednesday, September 24 - 7:00 PM
Los Angeles Premiere! A YEAR AGO IN WINTER (IM WINTER EIN JAHR),
2008, 90 min. The latest drama from director Caroline Link. whose first feature
film, BEYOND SILENCE, was nominated for the Best Foreign-Language Film Academy Award, and
her third feature film, NOWHERE IN AFRICA (NIRGENDWO IN AFRIKA) won the Oscar in that
category in 2001. The drama, adapted by Link from Scott Campbell's novel Aftermath,
follows renowned artist Max Hollander and the 22-year-old dancer Lilli, whose portrait he
has been commissioned to paint with her younger brother who was tragically killed in a
recent traffic accident. To complete the portrait he must uncover the young woman's
darkest secrets. During the work on this double portrait, Max slowly begins to understand
the depth of the relationship between Lilli and her brother and is touched and changed by
this highly unusual commission. View
Trailer Opening night presentation plus Producer
Ushi Reich will introduce the screening. The Screening will start at 7:30 PM.
Thursday, September 25 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
Los Angeles Premiere! LISSI AND THE WILD EMPEROR (lissi und der wilde kaiser),
2007, 85 min. The animated version of one of Germanys most beloved stories, the
fairy-tale marriage between Bavaria's teenage Princess Elizabeth and Austria's Emperor
Franz Joseph by spoof director Michael Herbig was a huge box office success. Funny
and charming! "Pic's bright, widescreen visuals -- courtesy of top Munich effects
house Scanline and Ralf Wengenmayrs lush orchestral score combine for a very
smooth ride, and there's a live-action look to the framing and direction." Variety
Official Website | View Trailer
Los Angeles Premiere!
RABBIT WITHOUT EARS (keinOhrhasen),
2007, 115 min. Actor/director Til Schweiger offers an ultra-slick romantic
comedy, a huge box office success. Berlin reporter and ladies man Ludo (Til Schweiger)
is sentenced to 300 hours of community service in a kindergarten. Teacher Anna )newcomer Nora
Tschirner) wants nothing to do with the neer-do-well until Annas dormant
attraction to the egocentric womanizer starts to blossom. "Schweiger has built a
career out of playing cocky, good-looking macho types, often sending up his screen persona
in the process. However, in East German-born Tschirner, 26, he finds an actress who can
match him: From her first appearance, in glasses and semi-frumpy duds, shes a
winner, mixing determination and klutziness in a perf somewhere between a younger Diane
Keaton and Sandra
Bullock." -- Variety Discussion in between
films with Special Effects Supervisor from Scanline. Official Website
Friday, September 26 - 7:30 PM
Triple Feature:
U.S. Premiere! THE BAADER-MEINHOF COMPLEX (DER
BAADER-MEINHOF KOMPLEX) 2008, 149 minutes. Directed by Uli Edel (LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN,
CHRISTIANE F.) and written and produced by Bernd Eichinger (PERFUME, DOWNFALL), this
high-paced thriller traces the history of the Red Army Faction (RAF), a movement that is
believed to have killed more than 30 public figures in an attempt to crush West German
capitalism in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Moritz Bleibtreu (RUN LOLA RUN) stars as
Andreas Baader alongside Martina Gedeck (THE LIVES OF OTHERS) as Ulrike Meinhof, who are
fighting a violent war against what they perceive as the new face of fascism: American
imperialism supported by the German establishment, many of whom have a Nazi past. The man
who understands them is also their hunter: the head of the German police force Horst
Herold played by Bruno Ganz (DOWNFALL, WINGS OF DESIRE). While he proceeds in his
relentless pursuit of the young terrorists, he knows he's only dealing with the tip of the
iceberg. Director Uli Edel will not be in attendance as was previously announced. View Trailer
Los Angeles Premiere!
WINTER JOURNEY (WINTERREISE), 2007, 99 min.
Dir. Hans Steinbichler. Beautiful and strangely reassuring, this portrait of
manic-depressive 60-year-old Franz Brenninger, won Josef Bierbichler the German
Film Award for Best Actor. Franz has gone far in his life: He runs his own ironware
business, lives in a nice home together with his wife, Martha, and has two grown kids. But
the impulsive Brenninger rubs everyone the wrong way. After losing all his money in a
rip-off deal, he is determined not to give up easily and sets out on his last journey from
which he will never return. "Pic's highlight is the masterful lensing, making much
use of contrasts between the cold, snow-reflected light of Germany and the golden warmth
of the African sun. Glorious landscapes betray more than a passing influence from the
German romantic painters."- Variety
Los Angeles
Premiere! SHOPPING (SHOPPEN), 2007, 90
min. The first feature by director/writer Ralf Westhoff, a former journalist. The
idea of speed-dating provides a glimpse into the lives of a certain single generation, as
the film follows 18 young singles living in the city of Munich who are looking for the
love of their life or just a date for one night. They voice their frustrations, their
dislikes, their disappointments, their expectations and desires. "Amazingly the
first full-scale feature set in the world of speed dating, SHOPPEN is a frisky,
beautifully played and written comedy that just goes with its oddball characters rather
than trying to draw social messages from its subject. It's a neat idea that's sustained by
Westhoff's good ear for dialogue, traversing everything from politics, food, music and sex
to lateral subjects like trends, attitudes and dreams. The thirty-somethings are as
obsessed about public transport and allergies as they are about loneliness and romantic
dreams. Extended coda, which follows a handful of subsequent hookups, is both funny and
romantic, set in the streets and bars of an attractive-looking Munich." Variety
Official Website Discussion in between
films with Executive producer Martin Moszkowicz (BAADER-MEINHOF). View Trailer
Saturday, September 27 - 5:00 PM
Los Angeles Premiere! FREE TO LEAVE (Freigesprochen), 2007, 95 min. Dir. Peter
Payer. The story about guilt and lies: in a small village a kiss between
station master Thomas and student Anna results in a terrible accident that wipes out many
lives and, at the same time, causes the lives of the people involved to go awry. The guilt
and lies they share drive Thomas and Anna into an obsessive love that changes lives
dramatically not just theirs. Based on Ödön von Horváths play Judgement
Day (1937), director Payer transposes the drama into a modern relationship context
where all balance is destroyed by the power of fate. www.freigesprochen.com View Trailer
Saturday, September 27 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
Los Angeles Premiere! CHERRY BLOSSOMS (Kirschblueten), 2008, Strand
Releasing, 127 min. One of Germany`s foremost filmmakers, award-winning Doris Dörrie (MEN,
NAKED, AM I BEAUTIFUL?), directs this tender, emotionally intense and profoundly moving
story of marital love. Only Trudi knows that her husband, Rudi, is suffering from a
terminal illness. She decides not to tell him and convinces him to visit their family in
Berlin. Then, suddenly, Trudi dies. Rudi is devastated but vows to make up for her lost
life. And so he embarks on his last journey - to Tokyo - in the midst of the cherry
blossom festival, a celebration of beauty, impermanence and new beginnings. Official Website
Los Angeles Premiere!
BEST REGION or BEST PLACE TO BE (Beste
Gegend) , 2008, 98 min.
The latest film by director Marcus H. Rosenmueller. Kati and Jo decide to take a
trip after their graduation with their ancient Mercedes. Yet the journey ends earlier than
expected when the car suddenly breaks down. Torn between homesickness and wanderlust,
their friendship will be put to a hard challenge. Discussion
in between films with director Doris Dörrie (CHERRY BLOSSOMS) and Rosalie Thomas (Beste
Gegend). View
Trailer
Sunday, September 28 - 4:00 PM
Los Angeles Premiere! Family Matinee:
WILD CHICKS IN LOVE (wilde huehner und die
liebe), 2007, 105 min. Dir. Vivian Naefe. Adapted from Cornelia
Funkes novel, this sequel reunites all five "wild chicks" -- Sprotte,
Frieda, Melanie, Wilma and Trude -- in their struggle for love. The wild chicks' leader
also has another problem to cope with: Her mother, Sybille, is planning to marry the smart
Alec when Sprotte's father suddenly turns up after twelve years and sets Sybille's heart
all aflutter. But the most difficult relationship of all has to be Wilma's. In spite of
all the emotional turmoil, the clique manages to stick together. Discussion
following with co-writer/director Vivian Naefe. View Trailer
Sunday, September 28 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
Los Angeles Premiere! THE WAVE (Die WELLE), 2008, 107 min. Dir. Dennis
Gansel. Riding a wave of positive buzz following its world premiere at Sundance, this
cautionary tale about the roots of fascism is a fictional retelling of the 1967 experiment
conducted by Palo Alto, Calif., history teacher William Ron Jones and transposed to
Germany today. Rainer Wenger (Juergen Vogel), a young unconventional high school
teacher, is stuck lecturing on autocracy (he prefers anarchy) during the school's project
week. He turns the lesson into a simulation, temporarily transforming his class of some 30
students into a microcosmic dictatorship. The experiment spins dangerously out of control
when the movement takes on a life of its own. Official
Website | Trailer
Los Angeles Premiere!
AND ALONG COME TOURISTS (am ende kommen
touristen), 2007, 85 min. Dir. Robert Thalheim. Performing his national service
abroad, Sven (newcomer Alexander Fehling) is sent to Auschwitz, where he slowly
realises that the present reality of the place as a tourist destination is bound up with
the past. Auschwitz is the unlikely background for a love story between German and Polish
youngsters. Part of the Certain Regard lineup in Cannes, the film toys with heavy subject
matter in a contemporary and light-hearted way without seeming frivolous or disrespectful.
"Young German director Robert Thalheim's second feature film is a quiet triumph.
Thalheim's original script -- loosely based on his own experiences working at Auschwitz's
International Youth Meeting Center -- economically blends modern life's truths, such as
the fragility of 20-something love affairs, with universal themes, such as the search for
meaning and the human need to expiate guilt." -- Hollywood Reporter
Official
Website | View Trailer
Discussion following with co-writer/director Dennis
Gansel and co-producer Martin Moszkowicz. |