29/02/2008

This week’s line-up has a distinctly American flavour . Apart from the five US productions released yesterday – which include Oscar winner No Country for Old Men (distributed by Universal), US box office hit Vantage Point (Sony Pictures) and Michael Clayton (Constantin) – German audiences will also have the chance to see Universum’s re-release (after an initial release at the end of March 2007) of Austrian/German co-production The Counterfeiters [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Stefan Ruzowitzky (see interview).

The title has just won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, marking the second Oscar victory in a row for German film, following the triumph of The Lives of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Henckel von Donners…
interview: Ulrich Muehe
film profile].

Universum are also launching an East German remake of a successful Hollywood film: Ossi's Eleven, the debut feature by Oliver Mielke. This comedy – produced by the director and his company Entertainment Factory Film - und Fernsehproduktion GmbH – recounts the crime prepared by a petty crook upon his release from prison. But in order to steal a supply of old Deutschmarks and convert them into Euros, he needs the help of a team, and his growing band of potential helpers become difficult to control.

This week’s line-up also includes German/US co-production I'm Not There by Todd Haynes (prize-winner at the Venice Film Festival), in which six characters act out different aspects of Bob Dylan’s life (distributed by Tobis).

Piffl are releasing the only film with any eastern flavour this week: German documentary Trip to Asia by Thomas Grube. The title – which screened at the beginning of the month at the Berlinale – traces the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra’s tour across Asia.

Also showing on German screens as of yesterday are two other local documentaries: Douglas Wolfsperger’s Der lange Weg ans Licht which follows the experiences of a midwife (distributed by Farbfilm); and Rosa von Praunheim’s Meine Mütter – Spurensuche in Riga (distributed by Basis).

(Translated from French)