Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 8, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Sophisticated cinema has become a hallmark of the capital region. Whether cult classics, a Brazilian film week, film-music concerts or children’s cinema, Berlin offers film enthusiasts one of Germany’s most varied cinema landscapes. Across the largely rural state of Brandenburg, numerous cinema operators also work every day to make each visit a special experience.
Authentic and unpretentious, arthouse cinemas win over their audiences and present great cinema on the big screen, creating islands of culture in towns and the countryside. People eat breakfast at the cinema; myths and angry monks flit through cinema nights; trash and horror haunt the screens; and Paul and Paula embark on a revival tour. It is cinema for body and soul, with organic popcorn and eel terrine served alongside the film.
On Tuesday, June 9, 2009, the enthusiasm, passion, perseverance and commitment of cinema operators will be recognised with the 2009 Berlin-Brandenburg Cinema Programme Award. At the awards ceremony in Kino International, director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run, The International) will speak about the current situation of arthouse cinemas.
The Academy Award-winning Toyland will then be screened in the presence of director Jochen A. Freydank, followed by a preview of two-time Berlinale Bear winner Everyone Else, due in cinemas June 18, 2009, in the presence of director Maren Ade.
Kirsten Niehuus, Managing Director for Film Funding at Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, says: “The capital region is Germany’s number-one cinema location. Film production is booming, and nowhere else in Germany is the cinema landscape so varied and vibrant. Each year, the Cinema Programme Award honours cinema owners whose enormous personal commitment gives audiences an exceptional programme and makes an important contribution to the capital region’s cultural landscape.”
Dr Andreas Kramer, Deputy Board Member of HDF KINO, says: “The Cinema Programme Award encourages ambitious programming. Cinema audiences and the Berlin-Brandenburg creative film region as a whole benefit. The diversity of film and cinemas in Berlin forms a uniquely culture-shaping symbiosis, unmatched by any other city and internationally. We must promote this further. Sophisticated films must therefore have a place wherever they can reach as many people as possible. Committed cinema programming can then further strengthen the social relevance of film.”
This year, 62 cinemas — 45 from Berlin and 17 from Brandenburg — are competing for 26 prizes with total prize money of around €200,000. A four-person jury decides the awards.
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