Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 9, 2010. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
When the red curtain rises on the 60th Berlin International Film Festival next Thursday, exciting festival days will begin for numerous HFF students, teachers and alumni.
Four HFF productions have made it into the official Berlinale programme. Jan Soldat’s “Geliebt” is the only HFF competition entry screening in the Berlinale Shorts section. The controversially discussed documentary examines the relationship between humans and animals across the spectrum of love and dependency. Jan Soldat made his film together with fellow students Julia Rau, Johannes Waltermann, Philipp Schneider, Héctor Marroquin and Peter Golovtchiner during his first year of study.
Two further HFF films are screening in Perspektive Deutsches Kino. “WAGs” by Evi Goldbrunner and Joachim Dollhopf – a graduation film set in the football world that won a First Steps Award last year - and Florian Schewe’s short film “Lebendkontrolle”, which portrays a prisoner who breaks apart within himself during a brief period of freedom.
The Panorama section shows “Barriere”, a production of the Acting programme directed by HFF alumnus Prof. Andreas Kleinert. The film tells the story of nine young actors who apply in the provinces for summer theatre in the ruins of a church. What begins as a grotesque story soon becomes a tragedy. In the leading roles: Klara Manzel, Volkram Zschiesche, Julia Gorr, Nora Rim Abdel Maksoud, Jessica Richter, Jan Dose, Matthias Ransberger, Christoph Humnig, Moses Leo, Juliane Götz and Thomas Lawinky. All study at HFF or have already completed their studies.
Felix Gönnert, alumnus and acting professor in the Animation programme, shows his latest film APOLLO in the Generation Kplus series, for which he brought further HFF alumni Max Knoth, Ina Marczinczik and Rudi Zieglmeier on board. The six-minute animated film explains why boys still find rockets just as wonderful as they did 50 years ago. Margret Albers was appointed to the section’s international jury. She studied AV Media Studies at HFF until 1996: today, as director of the German Children’s Media Festival “Goldener Spatz”, she is regarded as one of the outstanding figures in Germany’s children’s-media landscape.
Prof. Martin Steyer is once again a jury member for the Score Competition as part of the Talent Campus. The composition competition is taking place for the fifth time and gives three composers the opportunity during the Berlinale to record music with the Babelsberg Film Orchestra and subsequently conduct postproduction in the HFF sound studio. Anyone interested in Martin Steyer’s work as a re-recording mixer is recommended to see YELLA (director: Christian Petzold, Retrospective), IM SCHATTEN (director: Thomas Arslan, Forum) and WIEGENLIEDER (directors: Tamara Trampe, Johann Feindt, Panorama).
BOXHAGENER PLATZ (director: Matti Geschonneck) is screening in Berlinale Special. Prof. Torsten Schulz wrote the novel of the same name and the screenplay. The production design is by HFF professor Lothar Holler, and acting graduates Dieter Montag and Thomas Lawinky also appear.
Many films by and with HFF alumni are also screening at this year’s Berlinale. Perspektive Deutsches Kino opens with RENN, WENN DU KANNST by Dietrich Brüggemann, already known to Berlinale audiences for “Neun Szenen” (2006). He again wrote the screenplay with his sister Anna and filmed with an HFF alumni team (Alexander Sass, Vincent Assmann, Martin Frühmorgen, Holger Lehmann, Immo Trümpelmann and Robert Gwisdek).
One of the five finalists for the Berlin Today Award 2010 is JONAH AND THE VICARIOUS NATURE OF HOMESICKNESS, which HFF graduate Anna Wendt was able to realise with her film-production company last year with funding from Medienboard and in-kind contributions from the film industry. The winning film will be selected by a jury of prominent filmmakers and honoured with the Berlin Today Award 2010.
The Retrospective offers a reunion with Rainer Simon and his film DIE FRAU UND DER FREMDE (GDR 1984). Rainer Simon studied directing at HFF until 1965 and jointly won the Golden Bear at the 1985 Berlinale. On February 18, 2010, Rainer Simon will take part at the Deutsche Kinemathek in the discussion “Berlin around the corner, and back. DEFA and the Berlinale”.
And also…
German Cinema: The film music for MEIN KAMPF (director: Urs Odermatt) is by Enis Rotthoff. Udo Kramer designed the sets for LILA LILA (director: Alan Gsponer), with sound design by Noemi Hampel and mixing by Lars Ginzel. Forum: editor Szilvia Ruszev, most recently praised for her intelligent editing of “Wagah”, edited SCHNUPFEN IM KOPF. Homage: SOMMER VORM BALKON (2005, director: Andreas Dresen) – cinematography Andreas Höfer, editing Jörg Hauschild. SOLO SUNNY (director: Konrad Wolf) – cinematography Eberhard Geick. DER AUFENTHALT (director: Frank Beyer) – cinematography Eberhardt Geick, dramaturgy Dieter Wolf, with Hans-Uwe Bauer. Berlin Special, Gala: The production design for DIE FRISEUSE by Doris Dörrie is by Susanne Hopf. HFF acting graduate Misel Maticevic can be seen in IM SCHATTEN (director: Thomas Arslan, Forum) and IM ANGESICHT DES VERBRECHENS (director: Dominik Graf, Special Screening).
