German Films Quarterly 2 · 2007 AT CANNES In Competition AUF DER ANDEREN SEITE by Fatih Akin Un Certain Regard AM ENDE KOMMEN TOURISTEN by Robert Thalheim Cinéfondation HALBE STUNDEN by Nicolas Wackerbarth PORTRAITS Chris Kraus, Ulrike von Ribbeck, Filmquadrat, Nina Hoss SPECIAL REPORT 10 Years of NEXT GENERATION German Films and Co-Productions IN THE OFFICIAL PROGRAM In Competition In Competition Auf der anderen The Man From London Seite by Béla Tarr THE EDGE OF HEAVEN by Fatih Akin Producer: corazón international/Hamburg German Co-Producers: Black Forest Films & World Sales: The Match Factory/Cologne Von Vietinghoff Filmproduktion/Berlin World Sales: Fortissimo Films/Amsterdam Un Certain Regard Cinéfondation You the Living Halbe Stunden by Roy Andersson HALF HOURS by Nicolas Wackerbarth German Co-Producer: Essential Filmproduktion- Producers: Deutsche Film- & Fernsehakademie (dffb) Thermidor Filmproduktion/Berlin & Jost Hering Filme/Berlin World Sales: Coproduction Office/Paris World Sales: Deutsche Film- & Fernsehakademie (dffb)/Berlin OF THE Cannes Film Festival 2007 60th Anniversary Tribute Un Certain Regard Ulzhan Am Ende kommen by Volker Schloendorff Touristen AND ALONG COME TOURISTS by Robert Thalheim German Co-Producer: Volksfilm/Potsdam Producer: 23|5 Filmproduktion/Berlin World Sales: Rezo Film International/Paris World Sales: Bavaria Film International/Geiselgasteig Directors’ Fortnight Critics’ Week Gegenueber The Mosquito Problem COUNTERPARTS and Other Stories by Jan Bonny by Andrey Paounov Producer: Heimatfilm/Cologne German Co-Producer: Filmtank/Hamburg World Sales: Wide Management/Paris World Sales: TV2 World/Copenhagen Credits not contractual German Films Quarterly 2 · 2007 TALKIN’ ‘BOUT MY “NEXT GENERATION” 6 focus on 10 Years of Next Generation directors’ portraits 18 STAYING POWER A portrait of Chris Kraus 20 “TEAMWORK, TRUST AND TENSION” A portrait of Ulrike von Ribbeck producers’ portrait 22 PLATFORM FOR DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS A portrait of Filmquadrat actress’ portrait 24 A PASSION FOR ACTING A portrait of Nina Hoss 26 news in production 32 CHIKO Oezguer Yildirim 32 DR. ALEMÁN Tom Schreiber 33 DIE EINSAMKEIT IST NIE ALLEIN Roland Reber 34 FRUEHSTUECK MIT EINER UNBEKANNTEN Maria von Heland 35 HANAMI Doris Doerrie 36 IM JAHRES DES HUNDES Ursula Scheid 36 IRONMAN Adnan G. Koese 37 LIEBE UND ANDERE VERBRECHEN Stefan Arsenijevic 38 LULU UND JIMI Oskar Roehler 39 SHORT CUT TO HOLLYWOOD Marcus Mittermeier, Jan Henrik Stahlberg 40 STELLUNGSWECHSEL Maggie Peren 41 VIER SIND EINER ZUVIEL Torsten C. Fischer new german films 42 AM ENDE KOMMEN TOURISTEN AND ALONG COME TOURISTS Robert Thalheim 43 DIE ANRUFERIN THE CALLING GAME Felix Randau 44 AUF DER ANDEREN SEITE THE EDGE OF HEAVEN Fatih Akin 45 AUTOPILOTEN AUTOPILOTS Bastian Guenther 46 [DESI’RE:] – THE GOLDSTEIN REELS Romeo Gruenfelder 47 DOS PATRIAS CUBA Y LA NOCHE TWO HOMELANDS CUBA AND THE NIGHT Christian Liffers 48 DER GOLDENE NAZIVAMPIR VON ABSAM 2 – DAS GEHEIMNIS VON SCHLOSS KOTTLITZ THE GOLDEN NAZI VAMPIRE OF ABSAM PART II – THE SECRET OF KOTTLITZ CASTLE Lasse Nolte 49 HALBE STUNDEN HALF HOURS Nicolas Wackerbarth 50 DAS HAUS DER SCHLAFENDEN SCHOENEN HOUSE OF THE SLEEPING BEAUTIES Vadim Glowna 51 DAS HERZ IST EIN DUNKLER WALD THE HEART IS A DARK FOREST Nicolette Krebitz 52 KLASSENFAHRT IN DAS REVIER DER WILDERER SCHOOL TRIP INTO POACHERS’ TERRITORY Marcus Lenz, Ingo Rudloff 53 LIBANON – STANDHALTEN IM WAHNSINN LEBANON – RESISTING LUNACY Uwe-S. Tautenhahn 54 LIEBESLEBEN LOVELIFE Maria Schrader 55 MIKROFAN Matthias Staehle 56 MONDMANN MOONMAN Fritz Boehm 57 MONKS – THE TRANSATLANTIC FEEDBACK Dietmar Post, Lucía Palacios 58 NEUES VOM WIXXER THE VEXXER Cyrill Boss, Philipp Stennert 59 OSDORF Maja Classen 60 PAUL UND BATAAR PAUL AND BATAAR Caterina Klusemann 61 PRATER Ulrike Ottinger 62 PREUSSISCH GANGSTAR PRUSSIAN GANGSTARS Irma-Kinga Stelmach, Bartosz Werner 63 DER ROTE ELVIS THE RED ELVIS Leopold Gruen 64 VOLLIDIOT COMPLETE IDIOT Tobi Baumann 65 DIE WILDEN HUEHNER UND DIE LIEBE WILD CHICKS IN LOVE Vivian Naefe 69 film exporters 75 foreign representatives · imprint TALKIN’ ‘BOUT MY (photo © Michael Dreher) “Fair Trade” Scene from “NEXT GENERATION” Exterior. Night. An incandescent moon lights the sky as throngs of FLASHBACK cinemagoers stream out of a packed Cannes movie theater, where they’ve just attended a highly-anticipated world premiere. We 1998: German Films (or the Export-Union of German Cinema, as it overhear bits of conversation. “Amazing narrative structure for a first was then known) was seeking to diversify its activities, increase film!” “A brilliant documentary, never thought of stewardesses awareness of its role, and find new mandates and partners. Jochem like that.” “The claymation was fantastic.” “Who was that hunky Strate, former supervisory board chairman of German Films, whose actor?” “The light in the lake scenes was magical.” “I never saw an son was attending the Munich Academy of Television and Film, had a en tire film shot in the subway.” “I never saw an entire film shot back- brainwave. Why not involve Germany’s various film schools in a pro- wards.” ject to showcase a selection of their productions in Cannes? Wait, there aren’t any multiplexes in Cannes! But all these people Many of Germany’s best-known directors – Wim Wenders, Werner can’t be talking about the same film! There’s a simple explanation: The Herzog, Caroline Link and Tom Tykwer, to name only a few – all start - crowd is leaving another packed showing of “Next Generation,” ed out making shorts. And Next Generation offers status-hungry a program of the year’s best shorts by students at German film Cannes audiences bragging rights: “I was at the world premiere of X’s schools. On May 20th in Cannes, German Films will unveil the tenth first student film.” They would see new stars being born. Not only edition of this selection. that the extraordinary vitality, quality and originality of the Next Generation films and their creators are winning over new audiences everywhere. german films quarterly focus on 10 years of next generation 2 · 2007 6 Next Generation 2000 That is Next Generation’s drawing card, the best shorts by the most Henckel von Donnersmarck said of his experience with Next talented directors of the youngest generation. For instance, back in Generation: "When Dobermann was selected by German Films to 2000 the program included the Munich Academy of Television and be part of the Next Generation reel in Cannes in 2000, I was almost Film’s Dobermann, by the tallest short film director in Next as excited as I was when my nomination for the Academy Awards was Generation history. Seven years later director Florian Henckel von announced seven years later. Apart from a thrilling and all-expenses- Donnersmarck was again towering over his peers, winning the OSCAR paid trip to Cannes, it was a great bonding experience with the other for Best Foreign Language Film for The Lives of Others. short film makers. I am still friends with many of them. We had in - Scene from ”Dobermann” Scene from german films quarterly focus on 10 years of next generation 2 · 2007 7 Lively discussion late at night: 2005 at “Petit Majestic” Lively discussion late at night: 2005 “Petit vitations to all the German events and were suddenly taken seriously got to meet many of the people who would end up organizing and by the German industry leaders. After all, our films were being shown financing my first feature film only four years later.” at Cannes! The turnout at our screening was very impressive, and I Next Generation is the real thing, the diamond in the raw, the newest new German cinema and directors. To ensure a selection of the highest quality, the films are selected by a prestigious independent jury composed of two permanent members (Astrid Kuehl, managing director of the Short Film Agency and co-head of the International Short Film Festival Hamburg, and Heinz Badewitz, director of the Hof Film Days and head of the German Cinema program at the Berlin Film Premiere cinema: Star 2 Premiere Festival), as well as a rotating third juror – this year Anke Sterneborg, a film journalist with Munich’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Film schools are invited to submit their year’s best productions – 59 for 2007. Since the total running time is limited to about 90 minutes, and in order to ensure the broadest possible selection, individual films may not exceed 15 minutes. The selection is also competitive, for the jury chooses one director who will be sponsored at Cannes by German Films and will represent the other directors from that year. In fact the lure of presenting one’s film at a Cannes screening proves irresistible, so almost all the direc- tors, as well as many producers and other members of their posse – actors, DoPs, friends and relatives – travel down, most of them at their own expense, by camping car, bus, train, even sleeping in tents in nearby camping parks, if that’s all their budget will allow. The rewards are ample. They present their films on stage to a packed audience and deafening applause. And then are fêted like the stars they are by an international crowd at a beach party that German Films throws in their honor. And their enthusiasm has been echoed by that of ever larger Cannes audiences. Astrid Kuehl has noted a huge interest in the selection by german films quarterly focus on 10 years of next generation 2 · 2007 8 programmers from festivals around the world. And Heinz Badewitz, who hosts the series of German features shown in the Cannes Market, says buyers and journalists are also eager to discover the newest talents Germany has to offer. Regulars wouldn’t dream of missing a year, having learned to “expect the unexpected.” The only constants are quality and imagination. MAKING WAVES & BREAKING GROUND German short directors are making waves. After presenting At the Lake in the 2002 edition of Next Generation, Ulrike von Ribbeck (German Film and Television Academy Berlin - dffb) was invited back to Cannes the following year to the official program as one of the Cinéfondation short film directors.