Editor

After three successful years the Festival of German Films was held in Tokyo (31.10. – 3.11.2008) with resounding success in its new framework. The long-standing partnership with the Goethe Institut was continued, with the Wald 9 Cinema joining as a new partner this year.

The opening film KRABAT was personally introduced to the audience by the director Marco Kreuzpaintner, actor Robert Stadlober and producer Uli Putz.

NORTH FACE (NORDWAND) by Philipp Stoelzl, HANAMI - CHERRY BLOSSOMS (HANAMI – Kirschblueten) by Doris Doerrie, BERLIN CALLING by Hannes Stoehr, CLARA by Helma Sanders-Brahms, RABBIT WITHOUT EARS (KEINOHRHASEN) by Til Schweiger and THE WAVE (DIE WELLE) by Dennis Gansel were very well received by the Japanese audiences. The short film BROTHER, BROTHER (BRUDER, BRUDER) by Lars Kreyßig was shown from the program of the 11th Next Generation.

The other directors Hannes Stoehr, Philipp Stoelzl, Dennis Gansel as well as the actors Florian Lukas and Jennifer Ulrich answered the questions of the enthusiastic festival audience after the screenings of their films and also gave autographs.

As in the previous years, the silent films were a further highlight at this festival. THE GOLEM (DER GOLEM) by Paul Wegener and THE CABINET OF DOCTOR CALIGARI (DAS KABINETT DES DR. CALIGARI) by Robert Wiene were accompanied with live music by the composer and pianist Aljoscha Zimmermann and the violinist Sabrina Zimmermann and found an enthusiastic reception from the audience.

At the Distributors' Dinner organised by German Films, the representatives of the German sales companies had an opportunity to inform the most important Japanese distributors about new German films.

The festival was extremely successful with over 5,000 visitors and a clear sign that the new cooperation will continue to facilitate a successful promotion and presentation of German cinema in Japan.

Even before the end of the festival, it was reported that CLARA had been sold to Japan. The Japanese distributors also showed great interest in NORTH FACE (NORDWAND), KRABAT and HANAMI.