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(Film titles translating as,)
You could be forgiven for thinking that women
are this year’s focus of attention at the 40th Hof International
Film Festival, considering the titles of the films screened. But
festival director, Heinz Badewitz, has once again selected a well-balanced
and fascinating programme from over 2000 entries that were submitted
for the festival beginning October 24th 2006 with Marcus H. Rosenmüller’s
film SCHWERE JUNGS. 100 films will be premiered until October 29th
– 48 features and documentaries, 34 shorts and 19 films that
constitute the retrospective.
40 years of the Hof IFF are inseperable from the history of the
German film. For that reason, this year’s retrospective, Looking
back at the Hof IFF, showcases films that premiered in Hof and that
were significant for the development of the German film, e.g., JEDER
FÜR SICH UND GOTT GEGEN ALLE by Werner Herzog, CHRONIK DER
ANNA MAGDALENA BACH by Jean-Marie Straub and the late Danièle
Huillet, DEUTSCHLAND DEUTSCHLAND by Peter Fleischmann, MITTEN INS
HERZ by Doris Dörrie, DIE TÖDLICHE MARIA by Tom Tykwer
or DORADO (ONE WAY) by Reinhard Münster.
Among the filmmakers of the new productions you’ll find a
fair number of old acquaintances, too: Dominik Graf and his thriller
EINE STADT WIRD ERPRESST; Rainer Kaufmann who, in VIER TÖCHTER,
shows a woman whose long-repressed secret throws her life out of
kilter; Alain Gsponer is represented with BUMMM!; Ian Dilthey with
GEFANGENE; Patrick Tauss with KAHLSCHLAG; Bernd Lange – the
script writer of Hans-Christian Schmid’s film Requiem, presents
RABENBRÜDER, the story of three men’s tragic friendship;
and Ed Herzog shows SCHWESTERHERZ to a script by Heike Makatsch
and Johanna Adorján.
After a 4-year-pause, Chris Kraus is back again with a new film,
VIER MINUTEN, in which he tells the story of Jenny who finds a new
challenge in the person of Traude who gives piano lessons in prison.
The protagonists of BLACK SHEEP, Oliver Rihs’ comedy, also
know full well that earning money is no fun and games. In his documentary,
MEIN TOD IST NICHT DEIN TOD, Lars Barthel describes a German-Indian
love story, and in VERFOLGT, Angelina Maccarone portrays a successful
woman probation officer whose life is thrown out of joint when she
has an affair with young Jan. Florian Opitz, in his episodic documentary
THE BIG SELL OUT, describes the effects of privatisation of basic
public services.
Traditionally it’s the young filmmakers and their first productions
– be they feature films or shorts – who take centre
stage at the festival, this year e.g. actress Eva Hassmann, who
presents MAD LANE, her first short as director; and among the feature
films Ralf Westhoff with SHOPPEN; Ludwig Wüst with ZWEI FRAUEN;
Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth with KHADAK, the story of a
Mongolian shepherd boy, Bagi, who sees through the government’s
machinations and becomes a revolutionary; and Toke Constantin Hebbeln
with NIMMERMEER, a story of father and son. Erica von Moeller presents
LEBEN MIT HANNAH starring Nina Hoss; Ingo Haeb and Jan-Christoph
Glaser NEANDERTAL; and Thomas Wendrich MARIA AM WASSER. What it
feels like to impersonate the son of God is documented by Otto Dietrich
in DER SOHN GOTTES – THE SON OF GOD. DIE ÖSTERREICHISCHE
METHODE, an omnibus film by five young directors, deals with five
women in the same town, on the same day, in situations we all know
only too well.
In the international section there are films from New Zealand, Australia,
the USA, Canada, Israel, France, Norway and, as always, from Austria
and Switzerland. Aki Kaurismäki – for the first time
in Hof – will present LIGHTS IN THE DUSK. Christoph Schaub
will introduce his Swiss film JEUNNE HOMME and Martial Fougeron
from France MON FILS A MOI. The media artist, Timo Novotny with
LIFE IN LOOPS and Florian Flicker with NO NAME CITY represent Austria.
Linas Phillips walked 1,800km from Seattle to Los Angeles in order
to meet the man who had inspired him to make films: Werner Herzob.
Just like Herzog on his hike from Munich to Paris in 1974, Philips
encountered people, situations and stories along the way and turned
them into WALKING TO WERNER. Alex Frayne shows Australia’s
lesser known face: rugged cliffs, dense clouds and haunted towns
set the scene for his feature film MODERN LOVE. And Jens Lien made
a fascinating film with surreal atmosphere and a young, Nordic sense
of humour: THE BOTHERSOME MAN.
Also featured in the programme are Mira Nair’s latest movie,
THE NAMESAKE; Gus van Sant’s early MALA NOCHE from 1985; Nanni
Moretti’s political satire, IL CAIMANO; Philippe Lioret’s
family drama, JE VAIS BIEN, NE T'EN FAIS PAS; Vincent Ward’s
RIVER QUEEN depicting young Sarah’s tormenting choice between
Maori tradition, her son, and her Western background; Rolf de Heer’s
magic stories of TEN CANOES; JINDABYNE by Ray Lawrence (Lantana)
about five men friends on a fishing excursion who find a girl’s
body but don’t immediately tell their wives, with disastrous
consequences; and THREE MOTHERS by Israeli Dina Zvi-Riklis, produced
by her husband, Eran Riklis (The Syrian Bride), and Yifat Prestelnik.
Once again, the Hof Film Festival promises to
offer stimulating, entertaining days, interesting films and discussions,
and of course on Saturday the annual football match.
And also once again, prizes will be awarded:
the "Film Award of the City of Hof", for the 21st time;
the “German Film Promotion Award”, including prize money
of 10,000 Euro, presented jointly by HypoVereinsbank, Bavaria and
Bayerischer Rundfunk, for the second time; the "Eastman Award"
for the 23rd time; and the "Award for Best Set“, presented
by the association of set designers, film architects, and costume
designers, S/F/K, for the 10th time.
We would like to thank Arte Deutschland TV GmbH,
HypoVereinsbank AG, Munich, and the Unternehmerinitiative Hochfranken
as well as the many other sponsors supporting the Hof IFF.
Best wishes,
Ana Radica
Hof IFF/press
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