Berlin & Beyond Film Festival

Description

12TH BERLIN & BEYOND GERMAN FILM FESTIVAL
All films in German with English subtitles
January 11 OPENING NIGHT

Th 6:30p: Opening Night Reception

8p: Summer in Berlin (Sommer vorm Balkon)
Dir: Andreas Dresen Cast: Inka Friedrich, Nadja Uhl, Andreas Schmidt, Germany 2005, 105 min
Nike and Katrin spend long summer nights chatting on Nike’s balcony until one day, the truck driver Ronald changes everything… A “masterpiece of daily life,” this film offers a light hearted look at the trials and triumphs of two friends who are looking for love.

January 12
F 1p: Lapislazuli—in the Eye of the Bear (Lapislazuli—im Auge des Bären)
Dir: Wolfgang Murnberger Cast: Clarence John Ryan, Julia Krombach, Austria 2006, 102 min
Neanderthal boy Bataa, miraculously released from his glacial cocoon and revived by meteoric intervention, forges an unforgettable friendship with Sophie, a young teen who needs companionship. Together, the two discover the magic in each other’s world and share the miracle of friendship until the boy is discovered by scientists….

3:30p: Winter Journey (Winterreise)
Dir: Hans Steinbichler Cast: Josef Bierbichler, Sibel Kekilli, Hanna Schygulla, Germany/Austria 2006, 95 min
In Hans Steinbichler’s film, actor Josef Bierbichler is a force of nature—a big, belligerent man with even bigger problems. Suffering from manic depression, this formidable fellow’s increasingly erratic behavior eventually takes him on a gruelling psychic—and geographic—journey that leaves him stranded and alone to face his demons.

7p: Tough Enough (Knallhart)
Dir: Detlev Buck Cast: David Kross, Jenny Elvers-Elbertzhagen, Jan Henrik Stahlberg, Germany 2006, 98 min
Michael and his mom Miriam have to move from the posh Berlin district of Zehlendorf to the run-down Neukölln. On the first day at his new school, Michael is beaten up by Erol and his gang. Scared and intimidated by his new surroundings, Michael has to learn to be tough enough for his new neighborhood.

9p: Zeppelin!
Dir: Gordian Maugg Cast: Olaf Rauschenbach, Alexander May, Germany 2005, 102 min
Matthias Silcher researches the story of his grandfather Robert, who died in 1937 in Lakehurst as a Hindenburg crew member. Karl Semmle, the only one who witnessed Robert’s death, reluctantly breaks his silence and reveals an extraordinary story of devotion and sacrifice. To save his beloved heirship from extinction, Robert sacrificed his life and the Hindenburg.

January 13
Sa 12p: Wild Chicks (Die wilden Hühner) Dir: Vivian Naefe Cast: Michelle von Treuberg, Lucie Hollmann, Paula Riemann, Zsa Zsa Inci Bürkle, Jette Hering Germany 2005, 108 min
Every girl needs a best girlfriend. And Sprotte has no less than three! Together, they’re the “Wild Chicks”, inseparable and the coolest girl gang of the pre-teen set. One day, something incredible happens: Sprotte sounds the fox alarm! Grandma Slaettberg wants to slaughter her hens—even though they are the gang’s mascots.

2:30p: The Kick (Der Kick)
Dir: Andres Veiel Cast: Susanne-Marie Wrage, Markus Lerch, Germany 2006, 82 min
Summer of 2002 in the little village of Potzlow in Brandenburg, Germany. Three young men torture and kill the 16-year old Marinus Schönbert. Andres Veiel and Gesine Schmidt turned the story into a play, in which only two actors take the roles of the victims’ relatives, friends and neighbors. Then the play was turned into this film which conveys the nightmarish story perhaps more profoundly than reenactment could.

4:30p: Here We Come
AUDIENCE AWARD KINOFEST LÜNEN Dir: Nico Raschick Germany 2006, 88 min, documentary
A single body-wave—seen in the early 80’s in a program presented by West-German public broadcaster ZDF—became an entire movement in the GDR. Teenagers started to break dance out on the streets, wearing self-made clothes and creating their ‘home-made’ music. The film presents archive material, structured by the memories of protagonists.

7p: A Friend of Mine (Ein Freund von mir)
Dir: Sebastian Schipper Cast: Jürgen Vogel, Daniel Brühl, Sabine Timoteo, Germany 2006, 84 min
When dedicated, conscientious, but timid Karl is assigned to spy on the boss of a car rental service by his employer, he sets about the task diligently until he meets easy-going fun-seeking Hans. Before long, Karl discovers he’s found a true buddy, his own joie de vivre, and the nerve to try his hand at love.

9p: The Free Will (Der freie Wille)
Dir: Matthias Glasner Cast: Jürgen Vogel, Sabine Timoteo, Germany 2005, 163 min
Matthias Glasner has created an unflinching and at times brutal drama that profiles a complex character: Theo, a convicted rapist. At its core, this is an atypical love story about an abuser and a woman who has been abused. The two leads, Jürgen Vogel and Sabine Timoteo, deliver brave, bold performances.

January 14
Su 11a: Rascals on the Road (Mein Name ist Eugen)
Dir: Michael Steiner Cast: Manuel Häberli, Janic Halioua, Dominic Hänni, Switzerland 2005, 97 min
From the literary classic by Klaus Schädelin, this is a coming of age story set in the 1960s. In it, we share 12-year-old Eugen and Wrigley’s last summer of boyhood adventure. When Wrigley’s parents announce their intention of packing him off to boarding school, the boys run away, hoping to find Fritzli Bühler, the “King of Rascals”.

1p: Short Film Program 1 (92 min) A selection of six shorts from German Film Schools and the Mozart Minute, in which 26 directors present their one-minute-takes on Mozart.

3:30p: The Boy without Qualities (Der Junge ohne Eigenschaften)
Dir: Thomas Stiller Cast: Marek Harloff, Lisa Martinek, Germany 2005, 96 min
Tim can’t quite distinguish between real life and fantasy. Perhaps the bullet lodged in his head is to blame; it’s a vestige of his father’s attempt to destroy the entire family. When he meets Claudia, whose life is also overshadowed by her father, they immediately connect, but the bond is broken by another act of violence.

6:30p: Valerie WINNER OF BEST FIRST FEATURE AWARD 2007
Dir: Birgit Möller Cast: Ruth Rehmet, Ilja Haller, Milena Baisch, Germany 2006, 80 min
Valerie, a model spoiled by years of success and luxury, is stranded in Berlin’s Hyatt Hotel on Christmas Eve while her friends are busy and she has nowhere to go. She is broke, even has to steal food. It all goes downwards until she meets the attendant of the Hyatt garage.

9p: Combat Sixteen (Kombat Sechzehn)
Dir: Mirko Borscht Cast: Florian Bartholomäi, Falk Rohstock, Germany 2005, 96 min
Sixteen-year-old Georg, in moving to Frankfurt/Oder from Frankfurt/Main, finds himself radically uprooted: he has lost his friends, his chance at the local Taekwondo championship, and his girlfriend. Now he is surrounded by right-wing cliques and racial violence and must find his own way.

January 15
M 12p: The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez (Das kurze Leben des José Antonio Gutierrez)
Dir: Heidi Specogna, Germany 2006, 90 min, documentary
A green-card soldier and one of 32,000 foreign-born US military personnel shipped to the war with Iraq, Gutierrez had a dubious distinction: He was the war’s first casualty. In this memorial that lingers long after the credits roll, Heidi Specogna commemorates a young man who triumphed over adversity to dream big dreams.

2:30p: Living with Hannah (Leben mit Hannah)
Dir: Erica von Moeller Cast: Nina Hoss, Isabel Bongard, Wolfram Koch, Germany 2006, 85 min
Life with Hannah is anything but easy. Floating between her bare apartment and gloomy photo lab, she has wrapped herself in a cocoon of silence and detachment. As this artificial sense of security is successively infiltrated by an anonymous stranger, the boundaries between real danger and her inner demons begin to blur.

4:30p: Lumber Kings (Die Könige der Nutzholzgewinnung)
Dir: Matthias Keilich Cast: Bjarne Ingmar Mädel, Frank Auerbach, Steven Merting, Germany 2006, 94 min
After years of traveling the world, amiable “loser” Krischan returns to Tanne, a working class village in Lower Harz. He decides to stay because he has an idea: Since all his old friends and colleagues know their way around trees and woodworking, why not host a lumberjack competition in Tanne?

7p: Pingpong

9p: Vier Minuten (Four Minutes)

January 16
Tu 3:30p: Going Private (Nachbeben)

6:30p: Nathan the Wise (Nathan der Weise)
Dir: Manfred Noa; Cast: Carl de Vogt, Lia Eibenschütz, Fritz Greiner, Germany 1922, 122 min, silent film

9:15p: Wholetrain

11p: Einstürzende Neubauten

January 17

W 12:30p: Short Film Program 2

3p: Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback

7p: The Fisherman and his Wife (Der Fischer und seine Frau)

Schedule

Castro Theatre 429 Castro St San Francisco, CA

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More Info

Link

http://www.castrotheatre.com/p-list.html