16/03/2006

Out of the ten new titles to be released today on German screens, five are domestic films and one a German co-production.

The release of 3 Degrees Colder [+see also:
trailer
film profile], by Florian Hoffmeister gives Munich-based production company Blue Eyes Fiction the chance to launch its new distribution arm, Blue Eyes Pictures. The company has no offices as such, working through agents, and not only distributes its parent company’s films, but also acts a platform for arthouse cinema in general. 3 Degrees Colder, which tells the story of a mysterious disappearance that continues to haunt the near ones of the disappeared, won a Silver Leopard at Locarno.

The Cloud, by Gregor Schnitzler, focuses on a couple and an entire German region threatened by a hovering nuclear cloud like the one in Chernobyl in 1986. The film, produced by Marcus Zimmer for Clasart Film and distributed by Concorde, was received with enthusiasm by the Green Party at its premiere in Berlin.

Meanwhile, Piffl has released dramatic comedy Happy As One, a K5 Film production in which Vanessa Jopp perfectly captures new German realism, presenting a series of characters who have nothing in common except their loneliness and their desire to escape it.

To those fond of documentaries, Salzgeber gives us Zur falschen Zeit am falschen Ort from young director Tamara Milosevic, a film recalling the cruel murder of a 17 year-old boy by three youths or, rather, the context of this despicable deed and the locals’ reactions.

To provide a contrast with real life, Warner is distributing this week V for Vendetta [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a UK/German co-production dealing with the Orwellian theme evoked by the writers of Matrix. The film was directed by James McTeigue and the cast includes Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving.

Also featured in the line-up is After Midnight [+see also:
film review
interview: Davide Ferrario
interview: Giorgio Pasotti
film profile], a film by Italy’s Davide Ferrario, distributed by Kairos-Filmverleih, and Wer hat den Schatten getötet? (Karagoz Ve Acivat), a Turkish comedy by Ezel Akay (distr. Maxximum).

(Translated from French)