german documentaries 2014 German Films is the national information and advisory center for the promotion of German films worldwide. In association and cooperation with its shareholders, German Films works to promote feature, documentary, television and short films. The work of German Films concentrates on information services, as well as PR and marketing measures to increase the awareness and visibility of German films abroad. German Films also has foreign representatives in Eastern Europe, China and the USA. Shareholders are the Association of German Film Producers, the German Producers Alliance, the Association of German Film Exporters, the German Federal Film Board (FFA), the Deutsche Kinemathek, the German Documentary Association, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, and the German Short Film Association. Range of activities • Close cooperation with major international film festivals, including Berlin, Cannes, Venice, San Sebastian, Locarno, Rome, Karlovy Vary, Montreal, Toronto, New York and Shanghai as well as with the documentary film festivals in Amsterdam, Sheffield, Toronto and Nyon • Organization of umbrella stands for German sales companies and producers at international television and film markets (Berlin, Cannes, AFM Los Angeles, Shanghai, Toronto) • Staging of Festivals of German Films and German Premieres in selected international territories • Providing advice and information for representatives of the international press and buyers from the fields of cinema, video, and television • Providing advice and information for German filmmakers and press on international festivals, conditions of participation, and German films being shown • Organization of the annual Next Generation Short Tiger short film program, which presents a selection of shorts and is internationally premiered at Cannes • A website (www.german-films.de) and publications offering information about new German films, a film archive, information and links to German and international film festivals and institutions, international market analyses • Organization of the selection procedure for the German entry for the Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film • Collaboration with Deutsche Welle’s DW-TV KINO program which features the latest German film releases and international productions in Germany • Organization of German Films Previews geared toward arthouse distributors and buyers of German films • Selective financial Distribution Support for the foreign releases of German films • Organization with Unifrance of the annual German-French film meeting German Films Service + Marketing GmbH Herzog-Wilhelm-Str. 16 • 80331 Munich • Germany phone +49 89 59 97 87 0 • fax +49 89 59 97 87 30 [email protected] • www.german-films.de Dear Friends of the German Documentary Industry, A colleague recently called me to enthusiastically report on For this reason, our catalogue offers not only a glance at the pre-selections for the German Film Prize ‘Lola’, which the amazing breadth of German documentaries, but also he had just been a part of. He called 2013/14 a very strong serves as a valuable guide to the highly-professional produ- year for documentaries, and said the majority of the cers’ scene, which believes with heart and soul that the German films he saw were world-class in terms of both future lies in international co-productions, and not only for content and artistic expression. With ‘german documenta- economic reasons. ries 2014’, we are pleased to introduce you to these films We need not discuss in depth the wealth of topics covered along with some 250 titles from the latest production year by current German documentaries. A glance at this cata- that offer a fascinating overview of the high quality and logue is enough to provide an impressive overview. One wide variety of German documentaries, which have long notable observation about this year’s productions, howe- since established themselves as an international power- ver, is the number of protagonists who are coming up with house. creative ideas for facing their daily problems. “Art War” Surely it will comes as no surprise to find us Germans about the art scene in revolutionary Egypt is one such praising our own films in this catalogue. But judge for example. Other films pay witness to how art even appears yourselves: one look at the programs of the top internatio- capable of soothing memories of the Holocaust among nal film festivals is testimony to how German productions survivors. Sometimes filmmakers utilize special artistic or are increasingly taking center stage. Some of these produc- experimental forms to reflect the complexity of our reality. tions are so international that you may not even notice they The use of animation is also on the rise – due perhaps in are German productions. Gone are the days when these part to the increasing restrictions documentary filmmakers films focused primarily on the problems in our own coun- are facing while shooting their films. try. Now they have become cosmopolitan in the best sense Once again, all formats and lengths – from elaborate cine- of the word, and focus on the burning social and political matic productions to television series – are represented. issues of our globalized world. Thanks to the excellent, The financial crisis caused by greedy bankers is analyzed broad based film training programs in Germany, we have a along with the results it is having on a Greek family. The reservoir of superb documentary film directors. And well- topic of ‘war’ is also oppressively present in 2014 – not known filmmakers from abroad are increasingly eager to only because this year marks the 100th anniversary of the collaborate with German producers as well. outbreak of World War I, but also because humans are Germany is no El Dorado, however. Like everywhere else, continuing to slaughter one another in Syria and in other the documentary genre here is struggling for survival. But regions around the world. the multifaceted television sector and broad based public To this end, our “german documentaries” catalogue, like funding system still support the production of some 60-70 the documentary genre as a whole, can also be viewed as feature-length, cinematic documentaries each year – a long ‘to do’ list of tasks to be tackled on the road to considerably more than in many of our neighbouring coun- making this world a better place for us all … tries. It is a well-known secret that the majority of these productions are inadequately financed and are evidence of the unbroken idealism of German documentary writers, Thomas Frickel directors and producers. This also points out the increasing necessity to look beyond our national borders to fund large Chair & General Manager projects. AG DOK / German Documentary Association german documentaries 2014 893 14 – Diaries OF THE GREAT WAR by a team of authors and researchers ORAL-HISTORY | HISTORY | SOCIETY | SOCIAL | WAR & PEACE 100 years after its outbreak, this series lets viewers experience WWI solely through the eyes of those who lived it. History tells us "what was". It tells us when things happened. When kings and cultures lived and died, armies were raised and vanquished, and mighty empires rose and fell. History, as we know it from books, is often boring, for it falls to answer one very simple question: What was it like? When war broke out in Europe in July 1914, people on all sides believed it would be over by Christmas. Little could they know just how wrong they were. A seemingly petty conflict in Bosnia soon snowballed into the first truly global conflict. This was a new kind of war, fought with means and techniques never seen before. By November 1918, ten million people had died, and the political map of the world had been re-drawn. People’s minds and attitudes had changed forever, and the Modern Age had begun. Caught up in the middle of this chaos were millions of ordinary men, women and children. Their very lives changed in ways they could never have imagined. This is their story. The centenary of the outbreak of World War I is fast approaching. This is not the time for yet another film about battles fought and governments toppled, but for a new approach to historical documentary. 14 – DIARIES OF THE GREAT WAR will retell the story of the greatest war mankind had ever seen in a unique way. It will let viewers experience World War One solely through the eyes of those who lived it. Based on this concept, we have brought together an international team of authors ( Yury Winterberg, Jan Peter, Andrew Bampfield, Stephan Falk, Florian Huber, Maarten van der Duin ) and researchers. From over 1,000 very dramatic stories of the War, left behind in diaries, letters, postcards and tele- grams around the world, we have chosen the 14 most vivid and most emotional. Hailing from diffe- rent sections of the involved powers, and from all walks of life, they represent a cross-section of socie- ty itself. 14 – DIARIES OF THE GREAT WAR is based entirely on these personal documents woven into one compelling story arc. What was it like, as a French child, to read in history class about the Hunnish invasion of Europe, and then step outside to see German battalions march through your home town? What was it like, as a British lady, to abandon a comfortable life and volunteer as a war nurse, to comfort dying soldiers far from home? What was it like to be a German soldier, covered in mud – and the blood of your comra- des – cowering in a trench, before an enemy you had never seen? We hear their words, their emotions, as written down 100 years ago. We live – and sometimes die – with our characters, in high-gloss dramatic reconstruction and stunning archive footage. The drama will focus on what archive and historical analysis cannot reveal – personal tragedy, love, happiness, Contact: pain, grief – and give a body and a face to our diarists.