Dear Readers,
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG is the German entry for the 97th Oscar® awards ceremony in the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category. The political thriller by director Mohammad Rasoulof was selected by an independent jury from the 13 submitted films. The jury statement said: ‘a masterfully directed and movingly acted film that finds scenes that stay with you.’ THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG had already attracted attention after its screening in competition in Cannes. Since then, the film has been shown at numerous film festivals, including Locarno, Telluride, Toronto, San Sebastián, Busan and New York. And it has already been confirmed that the film will be seen at more festivals in the future. The next important date in the Oscar race will be the announcement of the shortlist on 17 December.
German films also made an impression in Venice, the third of the three major international film festivals. German cinema had a high profile on the Lido with a total of 17 productions and co-productions. The documentary RIEFENSTAHL by Andres Veiel wowed audiences and critics alike, as did the feature films SHAHED by Nader Saeivar, EDGE OF NIGHT by Türker Süer, HAPPY HOLIDAYS by Scandar Copti and QUIET LIFE by Alexandros Avranas. Venice also kicked off the Oscar campaign for the German-US co-production SEPTEMBER 5. The drama by Tim Fehlbaum - who is the subject of the director‘s portrait in this issue - is being touted by trade journalists as having good chances of being among the nominees in this awards season.
German films also enjoyed success at the other important summer festivals. The 24 German productions and co-productions screening in Toronto included the international premiere of Fabian Stumm’s SAD JOKES and the world premiere of Samadi Ahadi’s SEVEN DAYS. BLUE MARKS by Sarah Miro Fischer won the WIP Europa Industry Award in San Sebastián. Zurich’s 20th anniversary edition saw an eclectic selection of 15 German productions and co-productions being featured in its line-up. Warsaw also celebrated an anniversary with its 40th edition which included the world premieres of CHAOS AND SILENCE by Anatol Schuster and UNSPOKEN by Piotr J. Lewandowski in the International Competition section, and the international premiere of Frauke Lodders’ IN GOOD FAITH in the 1-2 Competition.
A special film festival – from our point of view – is now taking place in November. Germany will be the Focus Country at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival from 8 to 24 November. Numerous German films will be screening in several of the festival’s different sections, Christoph Hochhäusler will head up the jury for the Competition, and films from the retrospective will be shown in a special sidebar to mark the 70th anniversary of German Films. The German Focus will also be in evidence at the Baltic Event, the industry section of the festival: a large delegation of German producers will be attending this year. German Films’ anniversary will naturally continue being celebrated up to the end of the year. As in previous editions of GFQ this year, this edition will also have a focus on the anniversary. A timeline sees us travelling back in time and highlighting the special moments from the past 70 years.
A big thank you to everyone who has joined German Films in celebrating 70 years of German cinema abroad during this special year. We are now looking forward to the next eventful and successful years.
Simone Baumann, Managing Director