Editor

The 9th Festival of German Films in Moscow (2.-7.12.2010)

German Films and the Goethe Institut Russia posted a new audience record for their Festival of German Films in Moscow with over 6,000 admissions. Seven of the eight feature films were shown in sold-out performances at the 550-seater cinema.

Particular favourites of the audience were FRIENDSHIP! by Markus Goller, which won the Audience Award, closely followed by the opening film VINCENT WANTS TO SEA (VINCENT WILL MEER) by Ralf Huettner and RUN IF YOU CAN (RENN, WENN DU KANNST) by Dietrich Brüggemann. Russian distributors already signalled interest during the festival for VINCENT WANTS TO SEA.

The opening guests Florian David Fitz and Johannes Allmayer were just as enthusiastically received by the interested young festival audience as the delegation of producers Tom Zickler, Max Wiedemann and Marco Beckmann from FRIENDSHIP!. FRIENDSHIP! was released in the Russian cinemas (dist: Cascade) on December 9 after the premiere at the German film festival. The main actor Devid Striesow of the film I’VE NEVER BEEN HAPPIER (SO GLÜCKLICH WAR ICH NOCH NIE) by Alexander Adolph came to Moscow as a guest for the closing film.

The field of documentary saw a new cooperation this year with the ART DOC FESTIVAL which was being held in Moscow at the same time: the film PINK TAXI by Uli Gaulke, who was also present in Moscow, screened in the documentary film festival’s International Competition and subsequently at the Festival of German Films.

Also showing in the program were WHEN WE LEAVE (DIE FREMDE) by Feo Aladag, IN THE SHADOWS (IM SCHATTEN) by Thomas Arslan, NANGA PARBAT by Joseph Vilsmaier, THE CITY BELOW (UNTER DIR DIE STADT) by Christoph Hochhäusler, the children’s film PRINCESS LILLIFEE (PRINZESSIN LILLIFEE) by Alan Simpson and Ansgar Niebuhr, the TV film DIE GRENZE by Roland Suso Richter, the short films AMPELMANN by Giulio Ricciarelli, APOLLO by Felix Gönnert and MOBILE by Verena Fels and the reel of short films NEXT GENERATION 2010 which was presented by the two directors Rosana Cuellar and Ana-Felicia Scutelnicu. In addition, the Goethe Institut showed a three-title retrospective of Hans Weingartner on the last two days of the festival.

This year saw the festival touring through Russia again: this was the seventh time that the program was shown in St. Petersburg (3.-6.12.2010) and the third in Novosibirsk (8.-12.12.2010).

The festival’s partners were the German Embassy in Moscow and the Russian Ministry of Culture. Air Berlin, VW, Wintershall, Kanzlei Rödl & Partner, the Deutsche Zentrale für Tourismus and Kodak supported the event as sponsors.