21STGERMAN FILM FESTIVAL 2017

Sprache. Kultur. Deutschland.

2 – 12 NOVEMBER

#GermanFilmFestivalSGwww.goethe.de/singapore/germanfilmfestival

GOETHE-INSTITUT SINGAPORE

SCREENING VENUES

TICKETING DETAILS

136 Neil Road Singapore 088865Tel +65 6735 4555 Fax +65 6735 4666 www.goethe.de/singapore

Information is correct at time of print

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE SINGAPOUR1 Sarkies Road Singapore 258130

For films at Golden Village cinemas please visit www.gv.com.sgFor films at The Projector please visit www.theprojector.sgTickets from SGD8.50 onwardsConcessions apply for Senior Citizens, Students, NSF and Goethe-Institut members (only for tickets purchased at the cinema box office with valid membership card)For films at Alliance Française de Singapour please visit www.alliancefrancaise.org.sgAdmission is free for films at National Museum of Singapore, registration is required at www.peatix.comAdmission is free for films at the Singapore Botanic Gardens

GOLDEN VILLAGE

Plaza Singapura68 Orchard Road #07-01 Plaza Singapura Singapore 238839

VivoCity1 Harbourfront Walk #02-03 VivoCity Singapore 098585

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SINGAPOREGallery Theatre (basement)93 Stamford Road Singapore 178897

SINGAPORE BOTANIC GARDENSEco Lake Lawn (5 min walk from Botanic Gardens MRT) 1 Cluny Road Singapore 259569

THE PROJECTOR6001 Beach Road #05-00 Golden Mile Tower Singapore 199589

21ST GERMAN FILM FESTIVAL2017

The German Film Festival (GFF) will present its 21st edition in 2017 over two weeks from 2 to 12 November.This year, more than 30 ambitious and fascinating films will provide a unique insight into contemporary life in Germany and Europe. Through a wide range of genres – spanning art-house, comedy, historical drama, documentaries and music films – the audience will encounter powerful stories, fascinating characters, surprising perspectives and new insights. The films tell stories beyond borders, covering contemporary issues affecting lives around the world.

The opening film Western explores the tensions faced by a group of German workers in a foreign land, who are confronted with their own prejudice and mistrust due to language and cultural differences. The Bloom of Yesterday sets a romantic comedy within the unlikely subject of the Holocaust. Compelling drama Club Europe and comedy Welcome to Germany are two different portrayals of the refugee situation facing Europe.

The line-up also includes a selection of documentary films with universal subjects and messages – from To Be a Teacher, about the school system, to Happy, which sees filmmaker Carolin Genreith trying to make sense of her divorced father’s plans to marry a woman he met in Thailand.

This year marks the first time the Festival is involved with the creation of new cinematic content. Led by acclaimed Singaporean filmmaker K. Rajagopal, students from Puttnam School of Film and Animation, LaSalle College of the Arts, have produced their own short films in response to the works of German directors Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Fatih Akin. The Festival also embarks on Musikino, a co-curated programme with The Projector featuring music films. Aside from presenting family-friendly films with the Children’s Festival at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the GFF will hold the Retrospective at the National Museum of Singapore, showing important film works from the 1970s, the decade when the Goethe-Institut Singapore had its first film event at the museum, to the 2010s.

Documentaries

Retrospective: Play It Again!at the National Museum of Singapore

DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS 21 min (G)

FITZCARRALDO157 min (PG13)

DIRTY GAMES90 min (PG13)

OH BOY86 min (NC16)

TO BE A TEACHER106 min (PG)

THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN120 min (M18)

HAPPY85 min (PG)

THE LIVES OF OTHERS137 min (M18)

FROM BUSINESS TO BEING89 min (PG)

RUN LOLA RUN81 min (PG13)

Since the home computer arrived in 1984, the society has been divided into “Digital Natives” and “Digital Immigrants”. Then in 2016, a group of senior citizens is trying to adapt to the speed of computerisation in order to find their place in the digital age. Their problem is ours: How long can we keep up with the rapid development?

(Before the screening of Happy)

In this classic that won Best Director at Cannes for its director, Werner Herzog, Brian Sweeney “Fitzcarraldo” Fitzgerald (Klaus Kinski) is a monomaniac who dreams of creating his own opera in the jungle. To help finance his dream, Fitzcarraldo takes a steamship up a tributary of the Amazon, in an attempt to reach an inaccessible rubber region.

One thing has been evident even before the FIFA scandal: international sports is dominated by fraud, corruption and exploitation. Focusing on soccer, basketball and boxing, Dirty Games documents the reality behind the fame and glory, bringing to light the harsh facts behind a billion-dollar business and its effects on humanity.

Niko Fischer is living from day to day. Having dropped out of law school, he drifts through Berlin. Oh Boy – the excellent debut feature film by writer-director Jan Ole Gerster – describes the turbulent 24 hours in the life of a young man in episodes, at the end of which nothing will be as before.

To become a teacher in Germany, the legal traineeship must be completed after a theoretical study. This puts the teachers in a contradictory position: they teach while they are still learning. They assign grades, while they are graded on their performance as teachers. This film accompanies three candidates on their stony path to achieve their career goals.

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Filmmaker Carolin Genreith’s divorced father Dieter is planning to marry a woman he met in Thailand – is this love, or more of a “trade”? Carolin’s latest documentary addresses not only Dieter’s unfulfilled desires and fears of loneliness, but also her own ambivalent feelings, as her relationship with her father is put to the test. (After the screening of Digital Immigrants)

Are the crises of today’s workplaces crises of consciousness? Can meditation and awareness training help to alleviate stress? This documentary enters the otherwise closed world of business leaders to find out if a cultural change is possible – one that focuses on the well-being of all stakeholders, while fulfilling people’s desire for more meaning and authenticity in their work.

A young man Manni urgently needs 100,000 Deutschmark, otherwise he will be killed by a ruthless gangster. As a result, his girlfriend Lola rushes around madly and tries to collect the money to save her beloved. This unique love story is recounted in three versions by German director Tom Tykwer, each with a different ending.

Hermann (Klaus Löwitsch) and Maria (Hanna Schygulla) get married during World War II. They have one single night together before the husband must return to the front. After the war, Maria – who was told her husband had died – has an affair with a black GI, Bill (George Byrd). But Hermann returns home unexpectedly from captivity.

East German State Security (Stasi) Captain Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) finds himself involved in a mission where a playwright Georg Dreymann (Sebastian Koch) is placed under surveillance by Minister Hempf (Thomas Thieme), who covets Dreymann’s actress-partner, Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck). Writer-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s film has won many awards, including an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

SAT 4 NOVEMBER 8.00PM National Museum of SingaporeSUN 5 NOVEMBER 6.00PMNational Museum of Singapore

SAT 4 NOVEMBER 3.30PM

FRI 3 NOVEMBER 7.00PM Golden Village VivoCity

FRI 10 NOVEMBER 8.00PM

WED 8 NOVEMBER 7.30PM National Museum of Singapore(Includes post-show talk)SUN 12 NOVEMBER 2.00PM National Museum of Singapore

FRI 3 NOVEMBER 7.30PM

SAT 4 NOVEMBER 8.00PM National Museum of SingaporeSUN 5 NOVEMBER 6.00PM National Museum of Singapore

THU 9 NOVEMBER 7.30PM

THU 9 NOVEMBER 7.00PM Golden Village VivoCity (After the screening of 90 Degrees North)

TUE 7 NOVEMBER 8.00PM

In partnership with

Education Partner Official Airline Supported By

New Releases

90 DEGREES NORTH21 min (PG13)

HIDDEN RESERVES 96 min (M18)

FRIENDS FOREVER - A PIG’S TALE 72 min (PG)

ORIGINAL BLISS102 min (R21)

STEFAN ZWEIG: FAREWELL TO EUROPE106 min (PG)

THE PEPPERCORNS AND THE CURSE OF THE BLACK KING97 min (Rating TBA)

WESTERN120 min (PG13)

AT EYE LEVEL99 min (PG13)

IN TIMES OF FADING LIGHT102 min (PG13)

PARADISE130 min (PG13)

THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT124 min (PG)

CLUB EUROPE82 min (NC16)

SELF-CRITICISM OF A BOURGEOIS DOG99 min (PG13)

WELCOME TO GERMANY116 min (PG13)

CASTING91 min (Rating TBA)

MOUNTAIN MIRACLE97 min (PG13)

RETURN TO MONTAUK106 min (Rating TBA)

CENTER OF MY WORLD115 min (R21)

LAND OF MINE100 min (M18)

QUEEN OF NIENDORF67 min (NC16)

THE BLOOM OF YESTERDAY123 min (R21)

A businessman, Karl, finds himself in an unexpected battle for survival when he is trapped on a remote traffic island. Here, the green man doesn’t appear and breaking the traffic rules means certain death for jaywalkers. With his attempts of escape repeatedly foiled, Karl realises that the traffic island is a malicious foe he has to fight against.

In Vienna, in the not-too-distant future, the privileged elite who can afford death insurance dominates the vast majority who can’t. As an insurance agent named Vincent tracks down the fascinating activist, Lisa, he suddenly realises that resistance is a real possibility. But the boundaries defining life itself are not as clearly delineated as he had always believed.

In this dazzling animated feature, Johnny Mouse, Charlie Rooster and Percy the Pig are enjoying life in the lovely, quiet farm of Mollywoop, until the Wild Boar and his nasty minions threaten to destroy the peace. It’s up to this trio of best friends to gather up their courage and save the day, but things do not go as planned.

Trapped in a failing marriage, a suburban housewife Helene finally loses all hope after feeling she has been abandoned by God as well. She sees the key to her liberation in the form of the celebrated psychologist, Eduard Gluck. But the charismatic man is fighting demons of his own.

Austrian writer Stefan Zweig (played by award-winning actor Josef Hader) has fled from the Nazis and Europe. It is while living with his second wife, Lotte, in Brazil that he is able to work on his novella, The Royal Game. But tragedy strikes a few months later, as this haunting biopic reveals.

The successful fashion designer Petra von Kant lives in an opulently furnished loft with her assistant and servant, Marlene. With a daughter from her first marriage and divorced from her second husband, Petra later falls in love with Karin, who is 10 years her junior. Based on director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s own play, this film features a superb all-female cast.

Twelve-year-old Mia and her classmate Benny take a class trip to the Gruber family’s mountain ranch. Mysterious witching symbols appear, the Gruber’s cattle falls sick, the well water turns black and the barn burns down. Are they being haunted by an evil mountain spirit? Or is someone trying to put the Grubers out of business?

At a construction site in the border region between Bulgaria and Greece, a group of German workers are confronted with their own prejudice and mistrust due to the language and cultural differences. The stage is quickly set for a showdown when the men begin to compete for recognition and favour from the local villagers.

Michael, an 11-year-old orphan who lives in a children’s home, finds out who his father is and writes him a letter. His dad, Tom, turns out to be a dwarf who is even shorter than Michael. When the other kids find out, Michael’s life becomes hell. He runs away from the children’s home and moves in with Tom.

One week before shooting starts for a TV movie (a remake of Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant), the main protagonist has yet to be cast. Gerwin is happy with the extra work as fixed casting partner exchanging lines with famous applicants for the role. When the male lead leaves the production, Gerwin senses his chance to become an actor.

East Berlin, 1989: The Powileit family celebrates the 90th birthday of Wilhelm (Bruno Ganz), a former resistance fighter, returned expatriate and incorrigible Stalinist. Amid the festivities, someone is missing: Sascha, the grandson. No one suspects that he has fled to West Germany a few days ago.

Olga – a beautiful aristocratic Russian emigre and member of the French resistance. Jules – a corrupt French police collaborator. Helmut – a naive but high-ranking German SS officer. As these three characters recount their experiences, the viewers are transported back to the final days of World War II to discover how their destinies cross paths.

Martha convinces her flatmates, Yasmin and Jamie, to invite a refugee to live with them in the spare room of their Berlin apartment. Shortly after, mediated by an NGO, a Cameroonian named Samuel moves in. As the four people grow closer, Samuel’s situation takes a dramatic turn.

Unable to find financing for his film, Julian is forced to accept a job as a seasonal farmhand. At a party, he leads a young Canadian expat, Camille, to believe that he’s going to do research for a communist fairy-tale film, and offers her the leading part. To Julian’s surprise, she decides to accompany him, sparking off his romantic fantasies.

The recently-retired teacher Angelika decides, against her sceptical husband Richard’s will, to take in a refugee. Soon afterwards, the young Nigerian, Diallo, moves into the Hartmann home and a whirlwind of complications ensue. These events not only disrupt the lives of their adult children, they also put their own marriage as well as Diallo’s chances of integration to the test.

Amelie, 13, decides to run away from a special clinic in the mountains where she is supposed to get help for her illness. As a big search for her ensues, she meets a quirky boy, Bart, who tells her about the old tradition of the Alp Mountain Fires. These are miracles, which allegedly help cure the sick. Will they get to the fires in time?

He’s a writer from Berlin. She’s a New York lawyer. Many years before, they had a fling, but they were too young to know they had each met the love of their lives. Now they have come back to Montauk on Long Island, filled with regret and hope. Is it possible to reverse time? In Montauk, they find out.

As the school year begins for Phil, a new student arrives – the handsome and mysterious Nicholas. Smitten, Phil is thrilled when Nicholas returns his feelings. However, when first love’s volatility comes to light, Phil realises he must deal with the problems of his past, in order to deal with the issues of his present.

It’s summer in Brandenburg. The curiosity of 10-year-old Lea is piqued when she spots five boys lifting a large blue oil barrel over the fence of a paint factory and then driving away with their loot on a bicycle trailer. Joya Thome crafts her feature film debut by working with first-time young actors and a modest budget.

Sergeant Rasmussen – scornful of the Germans’ five-year occupation of his country Denmark – is intent on punishing what is left of the Nazi regime. Every day, he marches his squad of young prisoners out on the dunes to prod for mines. This tale of comradeship, survival and unexpected friendships questions the inherent evil that could exist in us all.

Totila Blumen is a Holocaust researcher who becomes a nervous wreck when his intern, a very young and irritating French student named Zazie, engages in a fling with his boss. German director Chris Kraus tackles the unlikely subject of the Holocaust in his offbeat but entertaining comedy.

THU 9 NOVEMBER 7.00PM Golden Village VivoCity (Before the screening of From Business to Being)SAT 11 NOVEMBER 2.30PM The Projector (Before the screening of Self-Criticism of a Bourgeois Dog)

SAT 4 NOVEMBER 6.40PM Golden Village VivoCitySAT 11 NOVEMBER 4.00PMGolden Village VivoCity

FRI 10 NOVEMBER 7.00PM Golden Village VivoCity

SAT 4 NOVEMBER 1.00PM National Museum of Singapore

SUN 12 NOVEMBER 6.15PM Golden Village VivoCity

THU 2 NOVEMBER 8.00PM National Museum of Singapore (By invite only)SAT 11 NOVEMBER 6.30PMGolden Village VivoCity

SAT 11 NOVEMBER 8.00PM National Museum of Singapore

FRI 3 NOVEMBER 9.15PM Golden Village VivoCityWED 8 NOVEMBER 7.00PMGolden Village VivoCity

SUN 5 NOVEMBER 2.00PM National Museum of Singapore (Includes post-show talk)SUN 12 NOVEMBER 5.00PMNational Museum of Singapore

SUN 5 NOVEMBER 2.30PM The Projector

SUN 12 NOVEMBER 7.00PM Alliance Française de Singapour(Includes post-show talk)

SAT 4 NOVEMBER 9.00PM Golden Village VivoCity THU 9 NOVEMBER 9.30PM Golden Village VivoCity

SUN 5 NOVEMBER 5.30PM The Projector

SUN 12 NOVEMBER 4.00PM Golden Village VivoCity

TUE 7 NOVEMBER 7.00PM Golden Village Plaza SingapuraSAT 11 NOVEMBER 9.10PMGolden Village VivoCity

SUN 5 NOVEMBER 6.40PM Golden Village VivoCity

FRI 10 NOVEMBER 9.20PM Golden Village VivoCity SAT 11 NOVEMBER 2.30PM

The Projector(After the screening of 90 Degrees North)

MON 6 NOVEMBER 8.45PM Golden Village Plaza Singapura

SAT 11 NOVEMBER 7.30PM Singapore Botanic Gardens

SAT 4 NOVEMBER 4.00PM Golden Village VivoCity SUN 5 NOVEMBER 4.00PM Golden Village VivoCity

Musikino

RAVING IRAN84 min (PG13)

REVOLUTION OF SOUND. TANGERINE DREAM90 min (NC16)Tired of their stagnating

career and constantly hiding from the police, Anoosh and Arash organise one last manic techno rave in the desert. Back in Tehran, they try to sell their illegally printed album without permission. When Anoosh is arrested and all hope seems lost, they suddenly receive a call from the world’s biggest techno festival.

When Edgar Froese, leader of the German electronic band Tangerine Dream, died in 2015, he left behind a heritage of 48 years of music history. This movie uncovers previously unpublished footage shot by the bandleader himself – complete with interviews with Froese’s wife Bianca Froese-Acquaye, band members, close friends and befriended artists.

SAT 4 NOVEMBER 8.00PM (Includes post-show event)

FRI 10 NOVEMBER 8.00PM

at The Projector