From human drama to sweeping historical epics (and a sidebar), this year’s German Film Festival in Canberra is a sweep of quality cinema, writes arts editor HELEN MUSA.
This year’s German Film Festival is now in Canberra in a sweep of cinema that ranges from human drama to sweeping historical epics and the sidebar, Kino for Kids.
Wolfgang Becker’s final film, Berlin Hero, adapted from the 2022 novel by Maxim Leo, sets the tone for the rest of the festival. A wry comedy about a forgotten East German hero rediscovered decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it looks back to the past. This centrepiece film screens over this weekend and in 7 more sessions.
Another film seen over the coming weekend and in five later screenings is Four Minus Three, based on the true story of Barbara Pachl-Eberhart. Barbara and her partner Heli are professional clowns, leading a happy alternative lifestyle with their two children. But when Barbara faces an unimaginable tragedy, her world falls apart.
Many films are fresh from the Berlin International Film Festival, including Prosecution, winner of the Audience Award there, which looks at contemporary Germany’s uneasy relationship with justice and extremism through the story of a young prosecutor forced to fight her own case. On the other hand, Karla revisits a landmark 1960s court case, placing a young girl’s voice at its centre. Both are screening this weekend and in five more sessions.
Amrum centres on a young boy looking for white bread, butter and honey to cheer his mother up.
Special focus is being placed on the historical drama Amrum, screening on Sunday and six more times, the latest work from director Fatih Akin. Set in a whaling community on an island in the North Sea during the last days of WWI, it centres on a young boy on a quest to find white bread, butter and honey to cheer his mother up. In homage to Akin’s directorial talent, the festival also revisits Akin’s earlier films.
There’s comedy coming too. The Holy Grill finds comedy in a suburban tennis club’s debate over a barbecue, while A Fading Man explores aging and relationships.
Cramped space in Das Boot.
The closing film will be Das Boot, which turns 45 this year, seen in a newly restored director’s cut. Wolfgang Petersen’s famous anti-war masterpiece, is set in the claustrophobic confines of a German submarine during the Battle of the Atlantic.
"The ghost of Beethoven would have thoroughly enjoyed the evening." THAYER PREECE reviews Musica Viva's touring program involving three most celebrated Australian classical musicians.
BRIAN ROPE reviews the latest collection of artworks by the 2024 Canberra City News Artist of the Year, Hilary Wardhaugh, in a joint photography exhibition with David Manley in Belconnen.
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