{"id":145057,"date":"2023-04-16T06:06:42","date_gmt":"2023-04-15T20:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/?p=145057"},"modified":"2023-04-15T15:52:26","modified_gmt":"2023-04-15T05:52:26","slug":"german-film-festival-2023-a-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/german-film-festival-2023-a-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"German Film Festival 2023 – a preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

The German Film Festival is back for 2023 with a fresh selection of the best German-language films. Once again Palace Cinemas in collaboration with German Films, will host the event around the country. This year\u2019s festival features key selections direct from the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival (The Berlinale), a music-themed retrospective, a focus on female filmmakers and the family sidebar Kino for Kids.<\/p>\n

Things kick off in style with the Opening night film, A Thousand Lines<\/strong> (Tausend Zeilen), the new film from director Michael \u2018Bully\u2019 Herbig (Balloon). Based on true events, the film is based on the 2018 fake news scandal involving disgraced Der Spiegel journalist Lars Bogenius. Festival favourites Elyas M\u2019Barek and Jonas Nay deliver star performances as journalists on opposite sides of the story.<\/p>\n

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A Thousand Lines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Direct from its Berlinale world premiere, is The Teachers\u2019 Lounge<\/strong> (Das Lehrerzimmer) provides the Festival Centrepiece. Starring rising talent Leonie Benesch (Babylon Berlin), the tense drama centres on a dedicated, idealistic teacher who is pushed to the brink when she investigates a series of thefts at her new school.<\/p>\n

And closing the event is the female-led drama Over & Out<\/strong>, a unique take on a female friendship story. Directed by Julia Becker, it focuses on four lifelong friends who vowed to celebrate their weddings together 26 years ago but when one of them invites the others to Italy, a chaotic road trip ensues.<\/p>\n

That leads neatly into the sidebar Frauen Am Werk: Focus on Female Directors, the talents of Germany and Switzerland\u2019s women in film are showcased in eleven incredible films from dramas, to documentaries and comedies. The two Special Presentations previously announced, Sisi & I<\/strong> (Sisi & Ich) the wild reinterpretation of the \u201cSisi\u201d myth starring Sandra H\u00fcller and stylish biopic Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert<\/strong> (Ingeborg Bachmann \u2013 Reise in die W\u00fcste), both have women at the helm with the latter directed by the legendary Margarethe von Trotta.<\/p>\n

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Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Music is the focus of this year\u2019s festival Retrospective – Music, Art and Chaos: A Sonic Transmission from Berlin. A filmic journey into the West Berlin New Wave music scene, it showcases the pioneers of the period and the cultural influences that reverberated through a generation. The Retrospective section includes B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West Berlin 1979-1989<\/strong> is a blistering documentary that fuses unreleased film footage and original interviews to reveal the story of life in the divided city; cult classic Christiane F<\/strong>. remastered in 4K; Decoder<\/strong>, infused with disenfranchised youth culture of the early 80s, and Liebeslieder: Einsturzende Neubaten<\/strong> captures rare footage, interviews with band members and concert performances of the renowned industrial band from 1980 to 1993.<\/p>\n

The collection of Berlin focused films is rounded-out by the multi award-winning Wings of Desire<\/strong> from Wim Wenders. Two angels glide through the streets of Berlin, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When one falls in love, he longs to experience life in the physical world.<\/p>\n