FRENCH GERmaN Film FEstival FRENCH GERmaN Film FEstival Neighbours Nachbarn voisins 2010 Dunedin 4–10 Nov Metropolis Cinema auckland 16–23 Nov Academy Cinemas Wellington 13–14 Nov Soundings Theatre Te Papa 23 Nov–4 Dec The Film Archive freestyle mEtRopolis CiNEmas TOTAL PRINT PRODUCTION www.frenchgermanfilmfestival.org Image © Sharmill Films Welcome Willkommen Media Release Coming soon: Bienvenue New Zealand’s first ever French-German Film Festival Neighbours – Nachbarn - Voisins! Metropolis Cinema, Dunedin: 4 -10 November NEIGHBOURS NACHBARN VOISINS Academy Cinemas, Auckland: 16 - 23 November Soundings Theatre, Te Papa: 13 -14 November “Neighbour” is a peculiar word – outwardly neutral, expressing neither The Film Archive, Wellington: 23 November – 4 December affection nor dislike, it nevertheless goes far beyond an attitude of in- difference. It awakens the desire to know more, to get to know the strange This year, for the very first time, the Goethe-Institut and the Embassy of person who lives within our reach, to try and look more closely at the France will hold a French-German Film Festival in three of New Zealand’s neighbourly relationship and learn what it is really made of: indifference main cities: Dunedin (4–10 November), Auckland (16-23 November) and Wel- and distance or warmth and friendship… lington (23 November – 4 December). Berlin and Paris, France and Germany – we are two neighbours in the heart The ten films included in the festival’s line-up, released in the past five of Europe with a long and rich ultural history. Ever since the signing years, will take you on a rollercoaster ride through of emotions as ou of the Elysée Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Friendship, in 1963, observe the twisted relationships that can exist between family members, ranco-German cultural exchange has blossomed. One prominent example of the lives of prisoners’ wives and the freedom of river surfing hundreds of this cooperation is the French German television channel ARTE, which has miles from the ocean. shown a wide range of bilingual programmes since 1992. And in 2006, both countries teamed up to create the world’s first history book co-written This selection of motion pictures stemming from the two most creative and by two countries. fertile film industries in Europe, was inspired by the success of last year’s respective French and German Film Festivals. In New Zealand the Goethe-Institut, the Alliance Française, the German and the French Embassies have been active for many years fostering cultural Through showcasing the similarities and differences of French and German cooperation and showing films that otherwise would not have eached cinematography, the organisers of the event hope to provide the New Zealand their Kiwi audience. Last year the first German Film Festival in New public with the opportunity to explore the diversity of the neighbouring Zealand commemorated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. countries. The French Embassy has for four years in a row organised a similar festi- val in different cities around the country. The enthusiastic response of To ensure that New Zealanders gain a pluralistic view of the French and our audiences around New Zealand prove that there is a genuine curiosity German cultures, a different film of both nations will be shown on each for world cinema. So here this year we are back again with a French erman day of the Festival. Film Festival, inviting you to celebrate the spirit of neighbourliness and friendship with us – 20.000 km away from our home. Attached please find a press kit which provides detailed information about the films featuring in the festival. We shall let you discover for yourselves what our Franco-German neighbou- rhood is all about. Many aspects are reflected in the films shown, created by two of the most innovativeand productive European film indusries by For further information, please contact: participants who are used to work together with one another, not merely as a result of European roadcasting and creative support policy, but also Deputy Press Attaché: Tui Wilson because they are fascinated by each others’ idiosyncrasies. DDI: (04) 802 7778 Email: [email protected] We welcome you warmly to have a look over the fence and be our neighbours. Press Attaché: Korbinian Poschl “Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome!” DDI : (04) 802 7777 Email: [email protected] —Thomas Meister, German Ambassador —Francis Etienne, French Ambassador Or visit the official website: www.frenchgermanfilmfestival.org Behind the scenes... A Côté Making of A Côté The director of the film, Stéphane Mercu- rio worked with women from the Ti-Tomm association centre in Rennes for four years. She began to see herself as one of them. Most of the women that Mer- curio spent time with did not discuss their loved- ones’ crimes or sentences. Instead they posed the same question over and over again: why were they, Directed by being made to suffer for their husbands crimes? Why Stéphane Mercurio were the punishments their loved-ones were sentenced to being inflicted on them as well? 2007 Grégoire Korganow uses photographic sequences in the film to create a feeling of suspended time, one of the major aspects of these women’s life. Some facts about French prisons: Documentary / 1h32 / Rating Exempt / Distribution Filminger / Cultures France - There are 63, 211 prisoners in France (figures from 1 April 2008) - There are 117 prisons in France - There are 24 detention centres in France - There are 29 correctional facilities in France Plot Summary - There are 5 maximum security prisons in France Women waiting, making themselves look good and feel good, occasionally - There are 13 periodic detention centres in France breaking down, still hoping ... In the little Ti-Tomm association centre, leaning against the wall of men’s prison in Rennes, they wait for visiting hours to begin. These faithful wives, like Homer’s Penelope, live by the routine of their husbands, in the shadows. Time is suspended, and life comes to a standstill. The prisonward, transfers, and prohibition is their Stéphane Mercurio lot. After studying law, working for humanitarian organisa- tions and working as a journalist, Stéphane Mercurio stum- bled across a documentary that changed her life. It was the inspiration for her first film, Scènes de ménage avec Clé- mentine, released in 1992. From then on, Mercurio made it her mission to speak up for those members of society who couldn’t do so for themselves. ‘The perfect union between cinema’s strength and the power of reality.’ Studio Magazine Mercurio admits that she never felt such a need to tell someone’s story as when she was with the women at the Ti-Tomm association centre in Rennes. With A Côté, Mercurio illustrates the reality of everyday prison life from a perspective that is too often Dunedin ignored. A glimpse at Mercurio’s films Prize list Sunday 7 November - 8.05pm Belfort Entrevues Festival 2007 Scènes de ménage avec Clémentine - 1992 French Film Prize - Documentary Audience Award Auckland Cherche avenir avec toit - 1997 Rennes Images de Justice Festival 2008 Saturday 20 November - 8.30pm Tuesday 23 November - 6.00pm Envies de justice - 2000 Festival Award Le bout du bout du monde - 2000 Wellington Hôpital au bord de la crise de nerfs - 2003 Creteil International Women Films 2008 Wednesday 1 December - 5.30pm Louise, son père, ses mères, son frère, ses soeurs - 2005 High school Docs Award Saturday 4 December - 7.45pm A Côté - 2007 Behind the scenes... A Year ago in Winter Making of Im Winter ein Jahr After several years of absence from both cinema and TV, in 2008 Caro- line Link was back with yet another adaptation of a literary work for the Directed by screen - Scott Campbell’s Aftermath. The movie, entitled Im Winter ein Caroline Link Jahr (A Year Ago In Winter), has been transposed from present-day America to present-day Germany. 2008 It is most probably Link’s best scenic and narrative piece of work to Starring date. An intense, urgent, haunting drama about the tan- Karoline Herfurth gled webs people weave and the ensuing hurt suffered by a Josef Bierbichler modern family. Im Winter ein Jahr (A Year Ago In Winter) Corinna Harfouch is a subtle, soft, positively unspectacular glimpse into Hanns Zischler the lives of a family that has been traumatised, paralysed Cyril Sjöström and petrified by the death of a loved one. It is also a Mišel Matičević film about loss and how we deal with it, about mourning, pain, taking leave Drama / 2h08 / Rating TBC / Distribution Constantin Films AG from someone. Plot Summary Interior designer Eliane Richter commissions the artist Max Hollander to paint a picture of her two children. Her daughter Lilli is not keen on the idea because her brother Alexander committed suicide and the portrait of the two would be nothing more than a decorative illusion. Eliane’s idea of Caroline Link having a portrait of Alexander and his sister painted is obviously an en- deavour to bring the pair together again visually and to immortalise them – a highly irrational way of ignoring death. Hollander takes the project seriously enough to investigate the reasons for the death and its context. In 1996 Caroline Link made her silver-screen debut He has to do the work that the family has neither the courage nor the sta- with – Jenseits der Stille (Beyond Silence). Even in this mina to deal with on their own. However, even he cannot explain the death, – her first film - her central themes are quite obvious – at least, not in a way that will satisfy his client. The project changes the various aspects and nuances of family life, of people everyone directly and indirectly involved with the painting.