German Films Quarterly 4 · 2004 DOWNFALL by Oliver Hirschbiegel Competes for the OSCAR DIRECTORS’ PORTRAITS Dagmar Knoepfel & Oskar Roehler PRODUCERS' PORTRAIT Moneypenny Fosters New Talents SPECIAL REPORT German Films: Redefining the Role of Film Promotion Abroad german films quarterly 4/2004 focus on 4 GERMAN FILMS directors’ portraits 10 TRILOGY OF FEMININE STRENGTH A portrait of Dagmar Knoepfel 12 LEARNING TO LOVE LIFE A portrait of Oskar Roehler producers’ portrait 14 FOSTERING NEW TALENTS A portrait of Moneypenny Film actress’ portrait 16 TYPICAL GEMINI A portrait of Sibel Kekilli 18 news in production 22 CROSSING THE BRIDGE Fatih Akin 22 ERKAN & STEFAN III, FETTES MERCI FUER DIE LEICHE Michael Karen 23 GISELA Isabelle Stever 24 DIE HEXEN VOM PRENZLAUER BERG Diethard Kuester 24 ICH BIN EIN MOERDER Bernd Boehlich 25 KEIN HIMMEL UEBER AFRIKA Roland Suso Richter 26 MAX UND MORITZ Thomas Frydetzki 26 NVA Leander Haussmann 27 DER ROTE KAKADU Dominik Graf 28 DER SCHATZ DER WEISSEN FALKEN Christian Zuebert 28 SEHNSUCHT Valeska Grisebach 29 DIE WILDEN KERLE 2 Joachim Masannek new german films 30 24-7-365 Roland Reber 31 AUS DER TIEFE DES RAUMES Gil Mehmert 32 BERGKRISTALL ROCK CRYSTAL Joseph Vilsmaier 33 BIBI BLOCKSBERG UND DAS GEHEIMNIS DER BLAUEN EULEN BIBI BLOCKSBERG AND THE SECRET OF THE BLUE OWLS Franziska Buch 34 COWGIRL Mark Schlichter 35 ERBSEN AUF HALB 6 PEAS ON HALF PAST FIVE Lars Buechel 36 GOODBYE Steve Hudson 37 JENA PARADIES Marco Mittelstaedt 38 KAETHCHENS TRAUM Juergen Flimm 39 KATZE IM SACK LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG Florian Schwarz 40 DIE KIRSCHENKOENIGIN QUEEN OF CHERRIES Rainer Kaufmann 41 KOENIG DER DIEBE KING OF THIEVES Ivan Fila 42 KOMM, WIR TRAEUMEN! LET US DREAM! Leo Hiemer 43 MEIN BRUDER IST EIN HUND MY BROTHER IS A DOG Peter Timm 44 MONDLANDUNG MOON LANDING Till Endemann 45 MÚSICA CUBANA German Kral 46 DER NEUNTE TAG THE NINTH DAY Volker Schloendorff 47 SUGAR ORANGE Andreas Struck 48 TILL EULENSPIEGEL JESTER TILL Eberhard Junkersdorf 49 (T)RAUMSCHIFF SURPRISE DREAMSHIP SURPRISE Michael ”Bully“ Herbig 50 DER UNTERGANG DOWNFALL Oliver Hirschbiegel 51 DIE VERHOEVENS THE VERHOEVENS Felix Moeller 52 WELCOME HOME Andreas Gruber 53 DER WIXXER Tobi Baumann the 100 most significant german films (part 15) 54 KAMERADSCHAFT COMRADESHIP Georg Wilhelm Pabst 55 EMIL UND DIE DETEKTIVE Gerhard Lamprecht 56 BERLIN – ECKE SCHOENHAUSER BERLIN – SCHOENHAUSER CORNER Gerhard Klein 60 film exporters 63 foreign representatives · imprint REDEFINING THE ROLE OF FILM PROMOTION ABROAD During the debate on the latest German Film Law (FFG) which came scene. Insufficient knowledge about the totality of German film and into effect on 1 January 2004, the various interest groups and trade television making results in a lack of interest and thus also, in part, in associations were asked to give their opinions of the future structure inadequate export successes,“ Weiss suggested. of the international promotion of German film. Christina Weiss, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media After a meeting at the end of August, it was decided to expand the (BKM), then published a ”concept for the improvement of the foreign shareholder structure from the previous setup of the Association representation of German filmmaking“ and proposed increasing the of German Film Producers, the Association of New Export-Union’s budget from the present €4.2 to €5.6 million (in 2005) German Film Producers, the Association of German within a revamped central service agency under the new name of Film Exporters, and the German Federal Film Board German Films Service + Marketing GmbH (”German (FFA). The three trade associations and the FFA will continue to hold Films“ for short). a majority of the shares, but they would be joined by a federal com- mitment via the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek, the regional In the paper, Weiss pointed out that ”the often separate promotion film funders (held jointly by Filmstiftung NRW and FFF and presentation of German films by the Export-Union and the fea- Bayern on behalf of the other funds), the Federal Association ture film and television exporters, on the one hand, as well as by the of Television Producers (BDF), the German Documentary foreign embassies and the Goethe-Institut, on the other, and the over- Association (AG DOK), and the German Short Film all rather meager budget available prevent powerful campaigns for Association (AG Kurzfilm). German film and television abroad on a dimension as is reached, for example, for French feature films by Unifrance and for the French TV In addition, a consultative body – a so-called Kooperationsrat – headed film by the well-financed umbrella organization TV France Inter- by Minister Christina Weiss is to be created to act as a sounding board national which is outstandingly supported by many state and semi- for cultural and industry concerns regarding the promotion of state institutions.“ German films and television. This committee will have 30 members, including representatives from the trade associations, private tele- ”The international promotion of German film in its present form vision sales companies, public television sales companies, theatrical leads to a blurred picture of German filmmaking abroad. A com- distributors, the video industry, the SPIO film industry ”umbrella“ prehensive impression is not possible due to the various events and organization, the Berlinale, film schools, the FFA, the Federal States, activities. In spite of the extremely successful export of German TV the Bundestag, the Foreign Office, Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek, the films and series, the strengths of filmmaking from Germany are not Goethe-Institut, Deutsche Welle, and the Film Committee of the sufficiently acknowledged and appreciated in the international cultural Federal States. german films quarterly focus on german films 4 · 2004 4 BEAUFTRAGTE DER BUNDESREGIERUNG FUER KULTUR UND MEDIEN The Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media (Beauftragte der Bundesregierung fuer Kultur und Medien – BKM for short) is a senior federal authority headed by Minister of State Christina Weiss. With the exception of the minister’s office and a Berlin office, the BKM’s staff of 190 are all based in Bonn. Hermann Scharnhoop BKM’s range of duties reflect the broad spectrum of the Federal Republic’s arts and media policies: from the reforms in the areas of arts and media through the funding of nationally important cultural institutions and the cultural infrastructure in the new German states to the securing of a free and plur- alist media landscape and foreign arts policy outside of Germany. The Federal Archive (Bundesarchiv) and the Federal Institute for Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe (Bundesinstitut fuer Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen in oestlichen Europa) report to the BKM. Contact: BKM · Hermann Scharnhoop Graurheindorfer Strasse 198 · 53117 Bonn/Germany phone +49-18 88-6 81 36 43 · fax +49-18 88-68 15 36 43 email: [email protected] · www.filmfoerderung-bkm.de ”The solution with German Films is very good,“ argues Alfred head of the film department at the BKM in Bonn and member of the Huermer, chairman of German Films’ advisory board. ”The pre- German Films supervisory board. ”We want to build on the success vious shareholders always said that a new structure must also have a of German films abroad on both economic and cultural levels, but corresponding new financial structure. It would have made no sense didn’t want to see German filmmaking only restricted to the feature to have new shareholders onboard and new areas to cater to with film. With the Export-Union’s new structure as German Films, we are just the same budget. The work would have been ineffective.“ hoping for a more diversified and effective presentation of German productions abroad.“ Ahead of the first shareholders meeting in the expanded structure in October, German Films Quarterly spoke with representatives of Since the promotion agency’s brief has now been extended to also German Films’ new shareholders to hear what they expect from the cater to the needs of the short film, documentaries and TV produc- organization. tions, Scharnhoop explains that the BKM will hold true to its promise ”to double the funding we made available in 2003.“ At the same time, he points out that the provision was also made in the revised FFG for BUILDING ON THE financial support to be forthcoming from the FFA for the export drive SUCCESS OF GERMAN FILMS of German films and TV programs, and the BKM had often found additional money in the past for special measures such as the German “The road to German Films was part of the fundamental improve- presence in Cannes or for the theatrical distribution of Good Bye, ments to the parameters for supporting German cinema within the Lenin! in France. revised Film Funding Law (FFG),“ recalls Hermann Scharnhoop, STIFTUNG DEUTSCHE KINEMATHEK Founded 30 years ago as a foundation under private law, the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek (SDK) had been funded jointly by the BKM and the City of Berlin until the end of 2003. Since the begin- ning of this year, the responsibility for funding the SDK has rested solely in the hands of the BKM. The Kinemathek has been housed in its current premises with the Filmmuseum Berlin at Potsdamer Platz Hans Helmut Prinzler since September 2000 and administers an extensive archive of films and associated materials (docu- ments, photographs, posters, screenplays etc.) with a particular emphasis on the history of German cinema from the early days to the present. The Filmmuseum’s holdings includes items from the estates of Marlene Dietrich, Heinz Ruehmann, Fritz Lang and Hildegarde Knef. The Filmmuseum organizes a regular program of exhibitions drawing from its collections and presenting various aspects of film and television history. Contact: Filmmuseum Berlin-Deutsche Kinemathek Hans Helmut Prinzler Potsdamer Strasse 2 · 10785 Berlin/Germany phone +49-30-3 00 90 30 · fax +49-30-30 09 03 13 email: [email protected] www.filmmuseum-berlin.de german films quarterly focus on german films 4 · 2004 5 BUNDESVERBAND DEUTSCHER FERNSEHPRODUZENTEN E.V.