2013 AUDI FESTIVAL OF GERMAN FILMS
Presenting a collection of contemporary German cinema, the 12th annual Audi Festival of German Films celebrates the rich diversity of one of Europe’s most dynamic and creatively renowned cultures. Showcasing 45 award‐winning films and documentaries from inspiring thrillers to wry comedies and critically lauded feature dramas, the Festival will take place across 8 cities throughout the first two weeks of May, and in Brisbane will screen at Palace Centro from 3 – 9 May. Presented by the Goethe‐Institut in association with German Films, screening partner Palace Cinemas, and the generous support of Audi, whose superb vehicles combine elegance with innovative technology, Festival Director, Dr. Arpad Sölter has crafted a colourful programme which will showcase over 230+ screenings across eight distinct and aptly titled categories from Eastern Promises, Retro, German Currents and Kraut Pleasers to Hot Docs, Russian Roulette, Our Neighbours and Kinder Kapers. Two Lives, from writer/director Georg Maas, who will be one of the Festival’s many international guests, will launch the event in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. Starring the legendary Liv
Ullmann, along with Ken Duken and Juliane Köhler, Two Lives is a thrilling drama that seeks to discover the true identity of a woman whose mysterious past lies in the buried secrets of a wartime liaison between a Norwegian woman and a German soldier.
Additional Festival highlights include:
Breathing (Screening all cities)
Directed by actor Karl Markovics (The Counterfeiters) Austria’s entry in the Foreign Language Oscar
category tells the story of Roman Kogler, a 19‐year‐old ward‐of‐the‐state living in a detention centre
following a serious crime. As part of the centre’s day release program, Roman’s only hope for
rehabilitation comes when he is offered the position of assistant undertaker at the local morgue.
Dreileben Trilogie (Screening all cities)
Directed by three of Germany’s leading filmmakers, Christian Petzold, Dominik Graf and Christoph
Hochhäusler, this intriguing trilogy of films, each plays upon figures of three, to form a series of subtle
repetitions and triangulations of characters and events.
Famous Five (Screening in Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra)
There’s much to enjoy in this fast‐paced and entertaining film that captures author Enid Blyton’s spirit of
fun and adventure. Based upon the exploits of four children and a dog, the story follows their quest to
uncover the secrets behind a smuggler’s cave, a kidnapping and a secret scientific laboratory.
Mercy (Screening Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra)
A slow‐burning thriller set in Hammerfest, Norway, the northernmost city in the world. Niels, a gas plant
engineer and Maria, a hospice nurse, have moved from Germany to this remote location to give their rocky
marriage a second chance. But it’s not long before Niels has returned to his womanising ways and is
involved in a torrid affair with co‐worker Linda. Then fate intervenes. Driving home in Hammerfest’s 24‐
hour night, Maria is involved in a tragic accident. While attempting a cover‐up, Niels and Maria reveal dark
truths that might normally tear a marriage apart but in these circumstances bring them closer together
than they have been for years.
More than Honey (Screening in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Byron Bay, Canberra, Perth & Newcastle)
The world’s bee population is diminishing by billions every year and with it, the world moves closer to an
environmental catastrophe. The equation is chilling: without the pollination provided by honeybees, an
incalculable amount of the food we eat would simply not be produced. Using state‐of‐the‐art photographic
equipment to bring us up close and personal to the flying insects on whose wings so much of human life
depends, Oscar nominated documentary maker, Marcus Imhoof travels to three continents searching for
answers to a mystery that has so far defied any easy explanation.
My German Friend (Screening Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane)
Buenos Aires, 1950s. Sulamit Löwenstein, the teenage daughter of German‐Jewish emigrants, lives next
door to Friedrich Burg, a German boy whose parents escaped to Argentina after the war. The two form a
strong attachment, which is broken when Friedrich discovers his father’s Nazi past. Severing all contact
with his family, Friedrich moves to Germany to study and becomes involved in radical politics leading up to
the May 1968 riots. Sulamit follows him and romance briefly blossoms, but Friedrich’s commitment to
political action leads back to Argentina, and great danger.
Sound of Heimat (Screening Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane)
What happens when a New Zealand saxophonist embarks upon a search for the roots and living traditions
of German folk music? In this exuberant documentary, Kiwi horn blower Hayden Chisholm meets musicians
and singers young and old, traditional and modern, eccentric and ultra‐serious, all of whom are united by
their passion for music that embodies the quintessential German notion of Heimat (homeland).
The Adventures of Huck Finn (Screening Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide & Perth)
A lavishly produced adaptation of Mark Twin’s American classic, which journeys down the Mississippi with
an all‐star cast including Heike Makatsch as Aunt Polly, Jacky Ido as Jim and comic legend Henry Hübchen as
slave‐hunter Packard. Remaining faithful to the 1884 novel and its scathing satire of antebellum white
society of the American South, this is a rousing rendition of teenage rebel Huck, his best friend Tom Sawyer
and runaway slave Jim travelling down the mighty river towards Ohio where Jim can be free.
This Ain’t California (Screening Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle, Canberra & Byron Bay)
This sure ain’t California in terms of geography but the emotional landscape of this documentary about
teenage rebellion and skateboarding in East Germany in the 1970s and 1980s most certainly is California.
Combining propaganda footage and black‐and‐white home video footage from the era, documentary
maker Marten Persiel creates a vivid portrait of Dennis, Dirk and Nico, childhood friends living in dreary
Neu Olvenstedt who were drawn together by a shared love of that most American of leisure pursuits.
Festival dates and venues are as follows:
SYDNEY: 30 April ‐ 14 May Chauvel Cinema, Palace Verona
MELBOURNE: 1 ‐ 15 May Palace Cinema Como, Kino Cinemas
BRISBANE: 3 ‐ 9 May Palace Centro
NEWCASTLE 4 ‐ 5 May Tower Cinemas
CANBERRA: 7 ‐ 12 May Palace Electric Cinema
ADELAIDE: 8 ‐ 13 May Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas
